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oe THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, 


INCLUDING 
ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, ann GEOLOGY. 


(BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE ‘ ANNALS ’ COMBINED WITH LOUDON AND 
CHARLESWORTH’S ‘MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.’) 


CONDUCTED BY 


CHARLES C. BABINGTON, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., F.LS., F.G.S., 
JOHN EDWARD GRAY, Ph.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.Z.S. &c., 
WILLIAM 8. DALLAS, F.LS., 

AND 


WILLIAM FRANCIS, Ph.D., F.L.S. 


_—~—_~——e 


LONTFON: 
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS. 


SOLD BY LONGMANS, GREEN, READER, AND DYER; SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, 
AND CO.; KENT AND CO.; WHITTAKER AND CO.: BAILLIERE, PARISg 
MACLACHLAN AND STEWART, EDINBURGH : 

HODGES, FOSTER, AND CO., DUBLIN: AND ASHER, BERLIN. 


1873. 


~~ ae 


; 
/ 


“‘Omnes res creatz sunt divine sapientix et potenti testes, divitie fe. 
humane :—ex harum usu donitas Creatoris; ex pulchritudine sapientia De 
eX ceconomid in conservatione, proportione, renovatione, potentia rmaje 
elucet. Earum itaque indagatio ab hominibus sibi relictis semper sestim 
a veré eruditis et sapientibus semper exculta; malé doctis et barbaris sem}. 
inimica fuit.’—Linnavs. 


“Quel que soit le principe de la vie animale, il ne faut qu’ouvrir les yeux po 
voir qu’elle est le chef-d’ceuvre de la Toute-puissance, et le but auquel se rappo 
tent toutes ses opérations.”—Brucxner, Théorie du Systéme Animal, Leyde 


1767. 


5160 | MAA Geis . . . « The sylvan powers 
Obey our summons; from their deepest dells 
The Dryads come, and throw their garlands wild 
And odorous branches at our feet; the Nymphs 
That press with nimble step the mountain-thyme 
And purple heath-flower come not empty-handed, 
But scatter round ten thousand forms minute 
Of velvet moss or lichen, torn from rock 
Or rifted oak or cavern deep: the Naiads too 
Quit their loved native stream, from whose smooth face 
They crop the lily, and each sedge and rush 
That drinks the rippling tide: the frozen poles, 
Where peril waits the bold adventurer’s tread, 
The burning sands of Borneo and Cayenne, 
All, all to us unlock their secret stores 
And pay their cheerful tribute. 
J. Taytor, Norwich, 1818, 


CONTENTS OF VOL. XI. 


[FOURTH SERIES. ] 


NUMBER LXI. 


I. Transformation of an entire Shell into Chitinous Structure by 
he Polype Hydractinia, with short Descriptions of the Polypidoms 
of five other Species. By H. J. Cartur, E.R.S. &e. (Plate lL.) .. 


IJ. On a new Species of Nettapus (Cotton-Teal) from the River 
Yangtsze, China. By R. Swinnor, H.M, Consul at Ningo ...... 


IIL On Berardius and other Ziphioid Wales. By Dr. J. E. GRAY, 
BEEN ee oe cies: cs ini > ojuiersiers © ecm winteiong) slaiaraince Tbieia.a: 6 viy iain? 0)? 


IV. On the Peregrine Falcon from Sardinia. By R. BowDLER 
Suarpg, F.LS., F.Z.S., &., Senior Assistant, Zoological Department, 
Mribishy MUSGUIN ..fces'csc er sec scenes eer ecesereestsscecers 


V. Notes on the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. By 
REUUG ATES, Esq, PLAS. ot sens acini eee cee e tins mm eciogemsses 


VI. Growth or Evolution of Structure in Seedlings. By Joun C. 
DraPER, M.D......0 eee cree Se Re nie Ar eaee tr iitis Ccichyrec aan 


VIL. Sequoia and its History. By Professor Asa Gray, President 
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science...... 


VIII. Physico-chemical Investigations upon the Aquatic Articu- 
lata. By M. Faurx Puarzav. Part MA iter exspeceia\oyein,ctelaiafes stat 's fora 


IX. Additional Notes on Spatulemys Lasale. By Dr. J. E. Gray, 
Tock cpm GRICE 6S Sie Raid eS CCI Sr Orch ciara Racor iy 


X. On the Macleayius australiensis from New Zealand. By Dr. J. 
TUT ETSY 9g 08 SS etd eA Oe On On Oo nc a a 


On the Reproduction and Development of the Telescope-fish of China, 
by M. Carbonnier ; Additional Observations on Codiophyllum, 
by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S, &e.; The Bell Collection of Reptiles ; 
Answer to Herr Ritsema’s “Note on Crinodes Sommeri” &c., 
by A. G. Butler, F.L.S. &e. ; On a Mite in the Ear of the Ox; 
The Horns of Antilocapra, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e.; Notice 
of a new and remarkable Fossil Bird, by O. C. Marsh 


Page 


15 


73 


75 


se see 76—80 


1V CONTENTS. 


NUMBER LXII. 


XI. Summary of Zoological Observations made at Naples in the 
winter of 1871-72. By E. Ray Lanxesrer, M.A., Fellow and Lec- 
eorerian Hxoter College, GOxtord. ,\osiis cess ener sce esessMevecae 


XII. On the Geographical Distribution, Migration, and Occasional 
Habitats of Whales and Dolphins (Cete). By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. 
BEEN em his, sista oy oak RA SN SG <in CO MIRTe LNs au S218 pole RIE ore 


XII. Notes on the Whales and Dolphins of the New-Zealand 
Seas. By Dr. James Hector, F.R.S. With Remarks by Dr. J. E. 


Page 


PRM ate Rey ur anlec v4 Wats ey adv ke Gee eae Pe 104 


XIV. A Monographie List of the Species of the Genus Gonyleptes, 
with Descriptions of three remarkable new Species. By Artruur 
GarpinER Butter, F.L.S., F.Z.8., &e. (Plate TU). 5 ste a sntee 


XV. Notes on the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. By 
RE EE ic iain’ v's. 5 é cede eee teeee che 


XVI. On a new Species of Turkey Vulture from the Falkland 
Islands and a new Genus of Old-World Vultures. By R. Bowpiter 
Suarpe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c., Senior Assistant, Zoological Depart- 
preter weanign OUST 2 Se... cab ae dk GE Eon ow ae teas 


XVII. On some Fossils from the Quebec Group of Point Lévis, 
Quebec. By H. ALLEYNE Nicuotson, M.D., D.Sc., M.A., F.R.S.E., 
Professor of Natural History in University College, Toronto ...... 


XVIII. Notes on Tortoises, By Dr. J. E. Gray, F\R.S. &e..... 


New Books:—Records of the Rocks; or Notes on the Geology, 
Natural History, and Antiquities of North and South Wales, 
Devon, and Cornwall, by the Rev. W. S. Symonds, F.G.S8. &e. 
—A Manual of Paleontology for the Use of Students, with a 
General Introduction on the Principles of Paleontology, by H. 


117 


153 


BerNieholsons MT., Did he... Sake eerie. 149-151 


Anatomical Investigations on the Limi, by A. Milne-Edwards; On 
the Boomdas (Dendrohyrax arboreus), by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. 
&c. ; On Deep-sea Dredging in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, by J. 
F. Whiteaves, F.G.S. &c.; Mitophyllum litteratum, a new Bri- 
tish Alga, by Prof. T,G. Agardh; On a new Freshwater Tortoise 
from Borneo (Orlitia borneensis), by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. ; 
Descriptions of three new Species of Crustacea parasitic on the 
Cetacea of the N.W. coast of America, by W. H. Dall, U.S. 
Coast Survey; Orca stenorhyncha (the Narrow-nosed Killer) ; 
Preliminary Descriptions of new Species of Mollusks from the 
North-west coast of America, by W. H. Dall, U.S. Coast Sur- 
vey; Projectile Power of the Capsules of Hamamelis virginica, 


by Mire Ts “Meehan v0... «esac: Gist oe ay ee 152—160 


CONTENTS. v 


NUMBER LXIU. 
Page 


XIX. On the Original, Form, Development, and Cohesion of the 
Bones of the Sternum of Chelonians; with Notes on the Skeleton of 
Sphargis. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. (Plates IV., V., & VI.) 161 


XX. On the Homologies of the Shoulder-girdle of the Dipnoans 


and other Fishes. By THroporE Guu, M.D., Ph.D., &e......... 173 
XXI. Additions to the Australian Curculionide. Part IV. By 

PiAer se ANCOMe ECO uCcy) wes ceien was oss ue eee ss se cekte es 178 
XXII. On the Silurus and Glanis of the Ancient Greeks and 

Romans. By the Rev. W. Hoveuron, M.A., F.LS............. 199 


XXII. Remarks on certain Errors in Mr, Jeffreys’s Article on 
“The Mollusca of Europe compared with those of Eastern North 
America.” By A, E. Verri11, Professor of Zoology in Yale College, 
Wowrekiaven;: Conte. USA na aiimeetae ax tletacg nies a aetaiagdce ae Sins 206 


XXIV. Remarks on Cervus chilensis and Cervus antistensis. By 
P. L. ScuaTer, M.A., F.R.S. Beis to the Zoological Society of 


BATS hee EON PRE Bent vet afd ae oon Mert eoat mtt Ato  ae 215 
XXY. Further Remarks on the Guémul of Patagonia (Huamela 
teucona). Dy Dr. J. W. GRayv, PRS, Geog heed es ebe oe clon ome 214 


XXVI. On the Peregrine Falcon of the Magellan Straits. By R. 
Bowv er SHarpg, F.L.S., F.Z.8., &c., Senior Assistant, Zoological 


Peparenent, British Museutig (03st <0. ee uisisins a inee nese a plore 220 
New Book :—Dr. Ehrenberg’s Microgeological Studies ............ 224 
PrOceeditigs GF Ge Oval WOCISHY 366 jn yc scsiapiels ess m4 mje ees seis 227 


On Whales in the Indian Ocean, by H. J. Carter, F.R.S. &c.; On a 
new Subclass of Fossil Birds (Odontornithes), by O. C. Marsh ; 
On two new Free Sponges from Singapore, by Dr. J. E. Gray, 
F.R.S. &c.; On the “Capreolus”’ of Zonites algirus, by E. Du- 
breuil; On the Developmental History of Petromyzon, by A. 
Schneider; On the Parasites of the Cetaceans of the N.W. 
Coast of America, with Descriptions of New Forms, by W. HH. 
Dry Mie aS UE VV ICN oa aisialc coisas se Slave vias oe «0 ies 231—238 


NUMBER LXIV. 


XXVII. On the Calcispongie, their Position in the Animal King- 
dom, and their Relation to the Theory of Descendence. By Pro- 
EES WTO TO & NOLS 0 A OAL RRaR Sst Choon 5 Maile eta are 241 


vi CONTENTS. 


Page 
XXVIII. Remarks on a few Species belonging to the Family : 
Terebride, and Descriptions of several new Forms in the Collection 
of the British Museum. By Ep@ar A. Smiru, F.Z.S., Zoological 
Devanment, British, Museum \, ocict £6.58 ew sande ke ok vechengt Pe shrens 262 


XXIX. On the French Species of the Genus Geomalacus. By 
D. F. Heynemann, President of the German Malacozoological 
Bociety, i ranktort-on-=Mainos:. 5 i.%5 onic creuwinuen ea» kiculee nema 271 


XXX. Description of Labaria hemispherica, Gray, a new Species 
of Hexactinellid Sponge, with Observations on it and the Sarco- 
hexactinellid Sponges generally. By H. J. Canter, F.R.S. &e. .. 276 


XXXI. On a Crustacean of the Genus Za. By the Rev. THomas 
peer STB BING. WA a sins aicea eye tins oieree niacin ease a aoe erent 286 


XXXII. Description of a new Species belonging to the Genus 
Vitrina. By Epear A, Situ, F.Z.S., Zoological Department, 


Ramet VERE ATO Ce aictch carci Sik 4. Gini nig eg Dapaags es ante IrON. ale 288 
XXXII. Observations on Chelonians, with Descriptions of new 
Genera and Species. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. ......-.0005 289 
XXXIV. Additional Notes on the Guémul. By Dr. J. E. Gray, 
a OLe Le Sse esse > en sous iain ab ag hee ae tose cathe ea 308 
Eroceedings or the Royal Society... vs s.5.00. se se cies snscepece 310 


Fabulous Australian Animals, by Gerard Krefft; Preliminary De- 
scriptions of three new Species of Cetacea from the Coast of 
California, by W. H. Dall, U.S. Coast Survey; On Hyper- 
metamorphosis in Palingenia virgo, and on the Analogies of its 
Larva with the Crustacea, by M. N. Joly ; Deep-water Fauna 
o: Lake Michigan, by P. R. Hoy, M.D... 06 cscees os cae os 315—319 


NUMBER LXV. 


XXXYV. On the Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo as the Basis 
of Genealogical Classification of Animals, and on the Origin of Vas- 
cular and Lymph Systems. By E. Ray Lanxusrerr, M.A., Fellow 


and Lecturer of Exeter College, Oxford ............0seceveveeee 321 
XXXVI. On a new Australian Species of Thyrsites. By Prof. 
Panesar WD as aan alain nde sade tenia « 5,09. oe 1a ee 308 


XXXVI. Notices of British Fungi. By the Rey. M. J. BERKELEY, 
M.A., F.L.S., and C. E. Brooms, Esq., F.L.S. (Plates VIL-X.).. 339 


XXXVIITI. Description of two new Species of Frogs from Aus- 
tralia. By Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER, F.R.S............0.000 000% . 349 


CONTENTS. Vil 


Pa 
XXXIX. Description of a new Saurian (Hyalosaurus) allied to 


Pseudopus. By Dr. ALBYRT GUNTHER, F.R.S. oo... cece eee 351 
XL. Points of Distinction between the Spongiade and the Fora- 
mintiom.: Dy Et. J) ‘Canraiy FIRS? Sei ieiics Uh. Seat. os 351 


XLI. On the Dentition of Rhinoceroses (2?hinocerotes), and on the 
Characters afforded by their Skulls. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


CEIRODASI)Y Saka niet ators ater oravet ites snehisa in drenetel Mardin Gresechelaude rele ofohare 356 
XLII. On some Works relating to a new Classification of Ammo- 
BUS) HY UBINGE) WAVE ss othr sit oia'a bee fate ev eraiwslehde aidinle's oo ae 362 


XLUI. Description of a new Snake from Madagascar. By Dr. A. 
CORTE ECR, EO CSc, oir oiatpisieisivin eats ls «lnjeieiie (aD a cid aaa ati w on ct. 374 


XLIV. Reply to Professor Verrill’s “ Remarks on certain Errors 
in Mr. Jeffreys’s Article on the Mollusca of Europe compared with 
those of Eastern North America.” By J. Gwyn Jerrreys, F.R.S. 875 


New Books :—Birds of the Humber District, by John Cordeaux.— 
Lecture on the Fer Nature of the British Islands, by John 
AU MNUNG BIG folads ‘dine oialpi sid stele eaagl g thei shclale tin emt ee a 377—881 


Proceedinas’of the Royal Society (. 0060s. e hss ee eae nes 383—391 


Preliminary Notice of some Extinct Tortoises from the Islands of 
Rodriguez and Mauritius, by Dr. Albert Giinther, F.R.S.; On 
the Dorsal Shield of Tolypeutes, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e.; 
Observations on the Structure of the Proboscis of an Herma- 
phrodite Nemertian from the Marseilles Coast, by M. E. Zeller ; 
French Measures, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &......... 397—400 


NUMBER LXVI. 


XLV. On the Advantage of a Dominant Language for Science. 
By ALPHONSE DE CaNDOLLE, Corresponding Member of the Aca- 
démie des Sciences, Foreign Member of the Royal and Linnean 
MOCIOLICR GUC ere UM Rtae Loe eee ea chaise Be tied st ee delta es 401 


XLVI. Notes on the Paleozoic Bivalved Entomostraca. No. X, 
Entomis and Entomidella. By Prof. T. Rupert Jonrs, F.R.S., 


i ERS Anegae Fite, JOR) 9. otic LENO) Ony DOr Wo, 0 CIRCLED CANO Ree TORIC COI ok 413 
XLVIL. Contribution to our Knowledge of Ceratophrys and 
Megalophrys. By Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER, F.R.S.......-......... 417 


XLVIUI. Note on the Discovery of Ligidium agile, Persoon (= Zia 
Saundersii, Stebbing), in Great Britain. By the Rev. A.M. Norman, 
OA aes RTA the iepin'sinn*«'n.c'n nie! alata, @ w-a\s' ss VOR Sa EER WO ele te 2 419 


Vill CONTENTS. 


Page 
XLIX. On the Calcispongia, their Position in the Animal King- 
dom, and their Relation to the Theory of Descendence. By Pro- 
Mrmr TEAST) ty, ries sake cn'n's ws ele. anh 2-5 oon 2 olnje ohh ae Pigg are 421 


L. Observations on Pigs (Sus, Linneus; Seifera, Iliger) and 
their Skulls, with the Description of a new Species. By Dr. J. E. 
MS ae tan ae Slat nee secceiais +3 00 8 nite ve a saev oes 431 


LI. Note on the Appearance in Australia of the Danais Archippus. 
By Freprrick M‘Coy, Professor of Natural Science in the Mel- 
bourne University, and Director of the National Museum of Victoria, 
EERE oot eecis sitive cise trtrals Sab kets) Soke Oe snag eh 440 


LIT. Descriptions of new Species of Fossorial Hymenoptera in the 
Collection of the British Museum. By Freprerick Smiru, Assistant 


in the Zoological Department, British Museum..............0005 44] 
LUI. Observations on M. Favre’s Paper on a New, Classification 

of Ammonites. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &. ........c.0 scons 451 

Proceedings of the Royal Society........0..cccccsecescereseees 454 


Habits of Xenurus wnicinctus, or Cabassou, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., 
F.Z.S., &c. ; On the Fauna of Nowaja-Semlja, by Prof. Ehlers ; 
On “Le Rat de Madagascar,” by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c.; 
Note on the Anatomy of Comatula rosacea, by E. Perrier ; On 
Mammalia from the Neighbourhood of Concordia, in New 
Granada, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e.; Additional Note on 
Tolypeutes conurus, by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e.; On the Re- 
spiration of the Psammodromi, by M. J. Jullien; M. Gervais on 
the Skeleton of the Luth (Sphargis coriacea); On an adult 
Skeleton of Zyrse nilotica in the British Museum, by Dr. J. E. 
Gray, F.R.S. &c.; Bryozoa of Florida; The late Robert 
BEAMUTOW, TNSG GEES. wis vies d cscupviis ves vas ede cae’ 463—471 

ARMOR, owes aiek G's Bis Sh Ls odiaseibel KMS W445 «boron idence oe 472 


PLATES IN VOL. XI. 
Puate I. Alteration of Shell-substance by Hydractinia. 
II. Spatulemys Lasale. 
II. New Gonyleptida. 
IV. 
vt Development of the Sternum of Chelonians. 


Wil. 


ie} New British Fungi. 


Ky 
XI. Ceratorhinus niger. 


THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


[FOURTH SERIES. ] 


so catsanassneracars per litora spargite muscum, 
Naiades, et circiim yitreos considite fontes: 
Pollice virgineo teneros hic carpite flores: 
Floribus et pictum, dive, replete canistrum. 
At vos, o Nymphe Craterides, ite sub undas; 
Ite, recurvato variata corallia trunco 
Vellite muscosis e rupibus, et mihi conchas 
Ferte, Dee pelagi, et pingui conchylia succo.”’ 

Vv. Parthenii Giannettasii Kel, 1. 


No. 61. JANUARY 1873. 


I1.—Transformation of an entire Shell into Chitinous Struc- 
ture by the Polype Hydractinia, with short Descriptions of 
the Polypidoms of five other Species. By H. J. Carter, 
F.R.S. &e. 

[Plate I.] 


ALL who are acquainted with the Spongiade know that there 
are certain species which enter the substance of shells and 
there grow to such an extent that finally the whole shell which 
they inhabit may become absorbed or destroyed, and the sponge 
itself, thus left alone, become unattached ; after which it may 
still go on increasing in size until, drifted about by the currents 
in the sea, it may at last in some storm be thrown ashore 
upon the beach. Cliona celata, which attacks the oyster-shell, 
is one of these, and after having absorbed the whole valve 
grows into a shapeless mass, which is brought up by the trawl- 
or dredge-net, or cast ashore, as before stated, in which con- 
dition it has been called “Raphyrus Griffithsti”’ by Dr. Bower- 
bank. Halichondria suberea, Johnst., is a species which 
attacks univalve shells—but often retains more or less of the 
outward form of the shell, and almost always that of the in- 
ternal cavity ; for a hermit crab (Pagurus) generally inhabits 
the latter, and so prevents the sponge from encroaching in 
this direction. Hence, if the outward form of the shell is lost, 
the internal one is, for the most part, so perfectly preserved 
that there is no difficulty whatever in concluding that it was 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 


2 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Alteration 


once a Gasteropodous shell, although not a particle of the cal- 
careous matter may remain, and the whole be transformed into 
sponge-structure. 

The same thing, mutatis mutandis, may take place with the 
flexible polype called Hydractinia, which for the most part 
also forms a parasitic crust on univalve shells. 

Thus in the British Museum there is a specimen of 
Hydractinia echinata covering a whelk-shell (Buccinum un- 
datum) both inside and out ; and the same was tenanted by a 
Pagurus, now dead in situ; while the horny skeleton or in- 
crustation of the polype, having shrunk by contraction on 
drying, has become cracked about the lip, and the pieces so 
curled up that their edges have become exposed, and thus show 
that, although the outer part presents its natural dark amber- 
colour, the inner one becomes gradually whiter, until it appears 
to differ very little from the shell itself. 

Carrying on our examination with a simple lens, we observe 
that the pieces have brought away with them a portion of the 
shell-substance on which the crust grew ; and when both their 
lower side and the corresponding surface of the shell are re- 
spectively examined, it will be found that the former presents 
a surface of whitish crystalline matter punctated by amber- 
coloured points, which are connected above with the horny 
structure of the Hydractinia, while the surface of the shell 
opposite presents nothing of the kind, and is therefore uni- 
formly white,—thus showing that the horny or chitinous in- 
crustation has brought away with it just so much of the shell- 
substance as the horny portion of the polype had penetrated. 

Hydractinia echinata is so common on our coast that it does 
not seem necessary for me to describe here more than the part 
immediately connected with our subject, viz. the polypidom, 
which includes the transformation of the substance of the shell 
into the horny structure of the Hydractinia. For the rest I 
refer the reader to the ample descriptions, illustrations, &e. 
contained in Mr. Hincks’s ‘ History of the British Hydroid 
Zoophytes,’ vol. i. p. 19 &e., and vol. u1. pl. 4 (1868). 

The skeleton or polypidom of Hydractinia consists of a 
clathrate mass of horny solid fibre (I use the word “ horny” 
here synonymously with “ chitinous,” as the most expressive 
term, although chemically not so correct as the latter), which 
spreads horizontally in a thin layer over the shell on which the 
polype may be growing, rising above into a forest of pyramidal 
serrated spines, averaging about one sixteenth of an inch high, 
and descending below by simple advancement of the clathrate 
fibre into the shell-substance, as before mentioned. 

The insterstices of the clathrate network are filled by the 


of Shell-substance by Hydractinia. 3 


granular plasma called “‘ccenosare ;” and the external parts of 
the skeleton serve to support the polype-mass; all of which, 
being extremely delicate, fail, after bemg once dried, to present 
under any circumstances a recognizable form. 

If we now, with a very sharp and thin knife, cut off verti- 
cally a slice of the dried curled-up crust above mentioned (PI. I. 
fig. 8) and place it under a microscope, we may see the white 
crystalline shell-substance (d d) gradually decreasing upwards 
among the interstices of the chitinous network, until it gives 
place entirely to the dark amber-colour of the latter and its 
granular plasma (c, figs. 8 & 9) ; while in the opposite direction 
the white substance increases to the confines of the lowermost 
layer of the network, until it can hardly be distinguished from 
the substance of the shell itself (fig. 8, 9). 

Again, if we put a similar slice (fig. 9) into dilute nitric 
acid, we shall not only observe an effervescence, but when 
this slice is placed under the microscope we may also observe 
that the whole of the whité crystalline substance has dis- 
appeared (fig. 9,d d), leaving nothing but the clathrate fibre 
of the skeleton (fig. 9, e), of which the increasing thinness, 
pale colour, and wide interstices towards the shell evince its 
young or progressive stage of development. 

It thus appears evident that Hydractinia echinata trans- 
forms the calcareous shell on which it may be growing into 
its own horn-like skeleton. 

We have now to prove this more satisfactorily ; and this can 
be done by another specimen in the British Museum, where 
the whole of the shell has become transformed into the horn- 
like skeleton of a Hydractinia. 

The shell thus transformed was somewhat less in size than 
a Buccinum, but of a totally different family, as may be seen 
by the form of the aperture, which resembles that of some tur- 
binated shell, though of course the species is now undeter- 
minable, at least to one possessing such a limited knowledge 
of conchology as myself (fig. 1, a,6). Nor is the Hydractinia 
the same specifically as H. echinata; for all the spines are 
smooth (fig. 3), and not, as in the latter, serrated (fig. 4). 
Hence there is here a marked difference between the two 
polypes, although in every other respect the skeleton-mass or 
polypidom, which is the only part left in the transformed shell, 
is almost identical with that of Hydractinia echinata. 

As the transformed shell now exists, it is empty and entirely 
composed of parallel layers of clathrate chitinous fibre (fig. 2, 
a,b). 'The internal cavity is smooth, and the columella pre- 
served; so that we may fairly infer that the shell had been 


originally tenanted by a Pagurus, which had remained there 
1% 


4 My. H. J. Carter on the Alteration 


until the whole of the shell had become transformed into the 
chitinous skeleton of a Hydractinia, when, probably finding it 
too light for its purpose, the Pagurus betook itself to a heavier 
habitation. 

Although the internal surface of the transformed shell 
remains smooth and perfect (fig. 2, a, b), the external surface 
has become changed into the peculiar growthof the Hydractinia, 
which presents a more or less irregularly tubercled appearance, 
each tubercle of which, being more or less separate from the 
rest and varying in size and shape, consists of a little monti- 
cule of clathrate fibre involving one or more of the smooth 
erect spines which characterize the species (fig. 1, a, d); whereas 
in Hydractinia echinata there are no such tubercles, the sur- 
face being for the most part even and equally spined throughout. 

So much, then, for the internal and external surfaces re- 
spectively of the transformation ; we have now to go to the 
layers of which it is composed. And these together present a 
thickness varying with that of the original shell, being in the 
section (which was made for the purpose, and forms part of 
the illustrations, fig. 2) 4-12ths of an inch thick at the base, 
and 2-12ths in the parietes. Moreover these layers show, by 
the presence of smooth spines upon them here and there (fig. 2, 
dd), that the growth of the Hydractinia had been outwards as 
well as inwards or towards the shell. Nor does it seem quite 
clear how much of the shell has been absorbed by the layer of 
the Hydractinia which lined its cavity (fig. 2, ee), since in the 
ee of Hydractinia echinata betore me the polype-crust, 
although smoothed by the Pagurus internally, covers the cavity 
as well as the exterior of the shell. At the same time, in 
the transformation, the presence and direction of the spines 
on its layers (fig. 2, ¢¢) point out, to a certain extent, the limit 
of the crust vertically, leaving about one third of the thickness 
of the transformation inside it for what may have been effected 
by the lower part of the outer crust and that lining the cavity 
respectively. In this case the original shell could not have 
been very thick. 

A microscopic examination of the structure gives the same 
results, minus the soft substance and presence of calcareous 
matter, as that of Hydractinia echinata; and thus it is satis- 
factorily proved that this kind of polype can effect a change in 
the composition of a shell analogous to that produced by the 
sponges mentioned. 

This is a point of interest to know, inasmuch as it bears on 
fossilized as well as recent structure, and therefore every 
clathrate structure of this kind in a fossil shell must not be too 
hastily set down as sponge-transformation. 


of Shell-substance by Hydractinia. 5 


The transformed shell bears the museum no. “ 2461,” which 
appears to me to be preceded by a P; and the former shows 
that it must have been in the museum for many years, since 
for upwards of twenty this kind of numbering has been dis- 
continued. 

In its maximum measurements it is about two inches long 
from apex to base, two inches broad, 7. e. from left to right 
side, and one inch thick. 

The outer layer is rendered more or less green by the 
presence of the gonidia and thallus of a lichen, which here and 
there appears in little groups of gymnocarpous apothecia all over 
the surface. So it is just possible that, after the comparatively 
heavy calcareous matter of the shell had been replaced by the 
lighter chitinous structure, the Pagurus, as before stated, left 
his habitation ; and the latter, having floated into an estuary, 
may have been left on its banks, where its surface became in time 
grown over by this lichen, arfd where, probably, it was found, 
unless all this took place on the sea-shore, or the Pagurus carried 
the transformed shell inland, as they appear to do in the island 
of Cuba (Sir C. Lyell, Princip. Geol. vol. ii. 1872). 

The largest apothecia are about 1-48th of an inch in diameter, 
and more or less circular, the thalamium dark brown, and ex- 
ciple white ; the spores ellipsoid, generally eight in the theca, 
but varying in number, and for the most part confusedly 
arranged. 

My attention was first called to the specimen of Hydractinia 
echinata above mentioned from its likeness to the figures of 
the sponge named “ Terpios echinata” by De Fonbressin et 
Michelotti (‘Spongiaires de la Mer Caraibe,’ p. 102, pl. xxiv. 
figs. 4 &5, Haarlem, 1864). And then, when I observed 
coupled with it in the museum another shell like it, but entirely 
transformed into horny structure, I began to think that the 
skeleton of Hydractinia echinata must be a sponge, not being 
aware at the time that any organism but a sponge could effect 
such a transformation, and observing microscopically that the 
horny substance was formed of concentric layers. However, 
placing the specimens before my friend Mr. Parfitt for his 
opinion as to the habitat and species of the lichen, this intel- 
ligent naturalist immediately recognized Hydractinia echinata, 
and handed out from his cabinet a specimen dredged up off the 
Otter-mouth, close to the place where [am living. ‘The nature 
of the organism on the whelk-shell thus having become known 
to me, that of the organism which had transformed the other 
shell still remained enigmatical, but was subsequently worked 
out in the way above mentioned. 

It would appear from a section of the crust that the poly- 


6 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Alteration 


pidom of Hydractinia echinata is formed of horizontal layers 
(figs. 8 & 9), each of which is marked by a row of knots 
(e, figs. 8 & 9), which indicate the points of union of the 
clathrate chitinous fibre, corresponding to the knots in network ; 
and, judging from a microscopic examination of the part ad- 
vancing into the shell, it would also seem that these knots first 
appear in the form of separate cells (fig. 7, dd), which, gene- 
rating concentric layers of chitine around them, may be termed 
“horn-cells.”” The horn-cell then sends off two sets of 
branches, one of which (fig. 7,¢¢) becomes the clathrate chi- 
tinous fibre, which is solid and formed of concentric layers, and 
the other set (fig. 7, £f) spread out into a chitinous membrane 
(fig. 7, 7) on the same plane as the horn-cells, which membrane 
thus acts as a framework to the whole. These horn-cells 
appear as dark points in the last layer of shell-substance that 
is about to be absorbed, and which remains adherent to the 
contracted and curled-up fragments of the dried and thus 
broken-up polypidom, as above mentioned (fig. 5, a; fig. 8, g). 
The chitinous membrane therefore lies above this (fig. 6, 6; 
fig. 8,/). But if a fragment of these two layers, viz. the chi- 
tinous and calcareous ones (which are of course very thin, but 
can be occasionally picked off together), be mounted in Canada 
balsam, it will be observed that the calcareous layer, which is 
the undermost, presents a worm-eaten appearance (fig. 7, 7), as 
if it had been subjected to the dissolving influence of a surface 
formed of pseudopodial villi, about 1-6000th inch in diameter. 
In the layer lining the cavity of the wholly transformed shell 
(fig. 2, ee), treated in a similar manner, we have the same cha- 
racters, minus, of course, the calcareous layer, as in fig. 9, g,— 
that is to say, the chitinous membrane alone, in which are set 
the horn-cells and their clathrate structure, as in a, figs. 6 & 7. 
Hlow the absorption of the shell-substance is effected in 
Hydractinia is unknown to me; but (referring to like phe- 
nomena) when we observe that the protoplasm of the plant-cell 
can, as required, work its way through the thick cellulose cell 
(as in Sprrogyra under conjugation), that the tender Amceba- 
like entophyte Pythium (also an inhabitant of the cell of 
Spirogyra) will do the same thing, &c., that the excavating 
sponges, whose sarcode is equally soft and delicate, will do the 
same in the oyster-shell as well as in limestone rock, it does 
not appear strange that the coenosare of Hydractinia should be 
able to perforate a whelk-shell under similar circumstances. 
Also, when it is observed that, in the excavations made by 
Cliona celata in the concretionary limestone formed and found 
about the rocks of the New Red Sandstone on the shore here, 
the siliceous grains which are mixed up with it still project 


of Shell-substance by Hydractinia. (i 


above the otherwise smooth surface of the excavation, it does 
seem (as my friend Mr. Parfitt has sagaciously observed) that 
these excavations are produced by an “ acid or erosive agent”’ 
of a chemical rather than of a physical nature, which, not 
being able to dissolve the silex, thus leaves the grains of 
sand projecting into the excavation (Parfitt on the boring of 
Mollusks, &c., Trans. Devon. Assoc. for Advancement of 
Science, 1871). 

May we not assume, then, that this process is one of animal 
chemistry like that of digestion (wherein the gastric juice will 
dissolve calcareous matter, but fails to affect a piece of glass)?— 
the action in Hydractinia being produced not by cells but by 
the intercellular sarcode, which, like that of the sponge, can 
prolong itself into villous pseudopodial processes (fig. 7, ¢, 7), 
which possibly may be the pioneers of all vital changes of this 
kind, in exercising on their confines that catalytic power of 
which life alone is capable., 

Indeed Professor Allman has long since demonstrated the 
existence of sarcode among the Hydroid polypes, which, to use 
his own words, “‘ comports itself exactly like the pseudopodia 
of an Ameba, which it also resembles in structure” (‘ Annals,’ 
1864, vol. xiii. p. 204); so that the worm-eaten appearance 
presented by the lowermost layer of the crust of Hydractinia 
echinata (that is, in the calcareous surface of the shell just about 
to become transformed) may be produced, as before stated, by 
a villous layer of minute pseudopodial prolongations from the 
ccenosare. 

Lastly, as regards the power of animal chemistry in these 
operations, which is chemistry directed by an unknown agent, 
as the production of alcohol by the yeast-plant, &c., it signifies 
that there is an instinctive power acting here, which is far 
beyond any possessed by the highest cerebrated being, if I 
may use the expression. 

When I observe the delicate mycelium of a minute fungus 
growing or creeping (for the terms are synonymous here) 
through the hard crystalline layers of the shell of a Bucctnwm— 
when I observe on the surface of a lancet which has been care- 
fully protected by a layer of animal fat a similar kind of my- 
celium, which has wriggled its way not only over but 7m the 
surface of the polished blade by oxidation of the iron in its 
course, so as to leave a rusty image of itself—and when I ob- 
serve a plant-like form of glauconite in the substance of an 
agate which has been formed in a geode of an igneous rock, 
so much like a Conferva that it might easily pass for one if 
not otherwise understood, to say nothing of the dendritic 
markings of rocks, &c.,—these facts, taken in connexion, seem 


8 On the Alteration of Shell-substance by Hydractinia. 


to signify not only that the law of form is the same both in 
the vegetable and mineral kingdoms at least (for the glauconite 
form in this respect is almost typically that of a Conferva), 
but that vital influence also is the primum mobile in all—that 
indomitable power which rules the world independently of 
man! 

Having ascertained that the transformed shell, which had 
been thrown in among the sponges, had been produced by a 
polype and not by a sponge, I turned my attention to certain 
branched organisms, or rather their skeletons, which had also 
been placed among the sponges, and had therefore come be- 
fore me for examination, when, noticing that they also pos- 
sessed a clathrate chitinous structure closely allied to that of 
the polypidom of Hydractinia (fig. 9), while the characteristic 
feature of most sponges, viz. the branched system of canals 
terminating externally in large outlets or oscula, was absent 
from them, I submitted to microscopical examination a por- 
tion of the stem of a beautiful form from New Zealand, which 
had been presented to the museum by Sir G. Grey; and 
I found not only that it was identical with the structure of 
the polypidom of Hydractinia, but that attached to its fibre 
internally, where the water had failed to destroy the whole of 
the soft parts with which the clathrate structure had originally 
been filled and covered, a few thread-cells still remained. I 
then sought for the hydrothece, and found them also. 

Next I took portions from two other species, which came from 
the Cape of Good Hope—and obtained similar results, so satis- 
factorily that in many of the thread-cells their contents had 
become half extruded. 

Finally I examined the two species from Australia which 
Dr. J. E. Gray, under the family name of “Ceratellade,” had 
described and figured provisionally as sponges in the ‘ Pro- 
ceedings of the Zoological Society’ for November 26th, 1868 
(p. 575), designated respectively Ceratella fusca and Dehitella 
atrorubens; and here, again, I met with similar results. 

Hence it becomes necessary for me briefly to describe all 
these polypidoms, beginning with that of the transformed shell, 
in order that henceforth they may be relegated to their proper 
place. Were they possessed of their soft parts, and pertect as 
the Hydractinia of our own shores when carefully dredged up 
from its natural abode can only be, I should have proposed 
their being handed over to some one more conversant than 
myself with this department of zoology: but who can say 
when perfect specimens of the polypidoms of these species, 
with all their soft parts recognizable, may be similarly taken, 
when those we have come from foreign shores, where they 


On new Species of Hydractinide. 9 


have apparently been washed about in the surf for years before 
they were picked up,for preservation? Meanwhile, as the 
description of a polypidom alone is comparatively easy, as it 
may be a long while before the soft parts can be obtained, and 
as it is desirable at once to separate these skeletons from the 
sponge-structures which I am examining, it is hoped that 
the following diagnoses may not be unacceptable. 


Hydractinia levispina,n.sp. (PI. I. fig. 1, a, d.) 


Zoophyte incrusting and eroding univalve shells. Poly- 
pidom formed of clathrate, subrectangularly meshed chitinous 
fibre (as in fig. 9), solid, concentrically laminated, surmounted 
by smooth, erect, conical spines (figs. 3 & 1, b,e), grouped 
together in the midst of proliferous tubercles (fig. 1, d,e), 
scattered more or less over the surface. Increasing by layers, 
so as finally to absorb the whole of the shell on which it grows 
(fig. 2, 2,6). Height of transformed shell 2 inches from apex 
to base ; extreme breadth, viz. from left side to margin of outer 
lip, 14inch. Spine variable, about 1-30th inch high by 1-60th 
inch diameter at the base. 

Hab. Unknown. 

Loc. Unknown. 

Obs. This specimen, which is in the British Museum, bears 
the number “2461,” which mode of marking, as before stated, 
shows that it has been there for a very long time ; the number 
also appears to be preceded by a “P.” There is no further 
history attached to it than that which its own structure reveals. 
It evidently grew ona shell a little less in size than a Buccinum, 
but of a totally different species, as the margin of the aperture 
is continuous like that of the Turbinide. While there it 
gradually transformed the whole of the shell into its own 
chitinous polypidom; meanwhile a Pagurus or hermit crab 
inhabited the imterior and so preserved the form of this part. 
Subsequently it probably got into some tidal estuary, where, 
having been left high and dry on its banks, a gymnospermous 
lichen took up its habitation on its surface, and, spreading its 
thallus throughout the external layer of the imperishable 
chitine, at last threw up the groups of shield-like conceptacles 
(apothecia) now scattered over the greater part of the shell-like 
polypidom. Of course this might also have taken place on the 
sea-shore, or the Pagurus itself might have carried it inland. 

Hydractinia levispina differs from H. echinata in the 
tubercled state of its surface, but especially in the smoothness 
of its spines (fig. 3); the latter possesses a more or less even 
surface with serrated spines (fig. 4). 


10 Mr. H.J. Carter on new Species of Hydractiniide. 


Ceratella fusca, 
Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. Nov. 26, 1868, p. 579, fig. 2. 


“Coral expanded, fan-shaped, forming an oblong frond ; 
branches divergent from the base, with numerous lateral, sub- 
alternate, subdichotomous branches; similar but smaller lateral 
branches. 

“Hab. Australia, New South Wales, at the head of Bondy 
Bay.” 


Dehitella atrorubens, 
Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. Nov. 26, 1868, p. 579, fig. 1. 


“Sponge or coral dichotomously branched, expanded, growing 
in a large tuft from a broad, tortuous, creeping base, of a dark 
brown colour, and uniform hard rigid substance. Stem hard, 
cylindrical, opake, smooth; branches and branchlets tapering 
to a point, cylindrical, covered with tufts of projecting horny 
spines on every side; those on the branches often placed in 
sharp-edged, narrow, transverse ridges; those of the upper 
branches and branchlets close but isolated, and divergent from 
the surface at nearly right angles. 

“This genus is distinguishable from Ceratella by the greater 
thickness and cylindrical form of the stem, by the more tufted 
and irregular manner of growth, and by the tufts of spicules 
(oscules or cells) beg more abundant and equally dispersed 
on all sides of the branches and branchlets.” 

The above descriptions are copied from Dr. J. E. Gray’s 
excellent account of these two organisms, published in the 
‘Proc. Zool. Soc.’ for November 26, 1868 (p. 575), to which 
the reader is referred for more extended descriptions of them, 
and for equally excellent illustrations, which, being almost 
typical forms of the following species from the Cape of Good 
Hope, will, until the latter are also illustrated, very well serve 
for their identification. 

It will be observed that Dr. Gray was by no means satisfied 
that they belonged to the Spongiade, and therefore only pro- 
visionally placed them among the sponges. Had he been aware 
of what I have above stated, his views probably would have 
been different, and the real nature of these organisms would 
have been then told by him at once; and but for his encou- 
ragement now, it would most probably have never been eluci- 
dated by myself. 


Ceratella procumbens, n. sp. 
Zoophyte procumbent, compressed, thickly branched on the 
same plane; the larger stems chiefly on one (the lower) side, 


Mr. H. J. Carter on new Species of Uydractiniide. 11 


hard, flexible, of an ochre-brown colour, tinged here and there 
with purple. Trunk short, solid, compact, compressed verti- 
cally, soon dividing irregularly or subdichotomously into round 
branches, which are confined to the lower surface, ending in 
branchlets with subclavate ends, that appear on the upper or 
opposite side, not reuniting or anastomosing. Hydrotheca 
consisting of a little semitubular plate, extending outwards and 
forwards from the side of the stem on the proximal border of 
an aperture in the latter ; scattered thickly over all the branches, 
but most prominent on the branchlets ; frequently represented 
by the little hole alone in the stem where the projecting portion 
has been worn off; scanty on the lower side of the main 
stems. Minute structure: composed of clathrate chitinous 
fibre throughout, whose meshes are subrectangular ; hydrotheca 
formed of the semitubular scoop-like plate mentioned, sup- 
ported on its proximal side by an extension of the clathrate 
structure of the stem, and* bordering the little hole also above 
mentioned, which extends into the centre of the stem ; surface 
of the larger stems bluntly microspined. Size of largest spe- 
cimen 11 inches long by 5 inches broad, and about 1 inch thick, 
or vertically. 

Hab. Marine ; procumbent. 

Loc. Cape of Good Hope and Port Natal. 

Obs. 'There are five specimens of this species in the British 
Museum, viz. one with no. 67. 3. 22. 1, and “Cape of Good 
Hope” written on it, and the others ticketed no. 72.8.1. 1, and 
“ Port Natal.” Friction among the sand and waves has worn 
down some of them so much as to leave nothing but the fora- 
mina in the stems; whereby the most worn might be looked upon 
as a different species, did not the gradation from the more per- 
fect ones point out that this is not the case, and thus that they all 
belong to one and the same species. Some parts still retain a 
purple colour both externally and internally, showing that, as 
with the other species in some parts also, this has for the most 
part been washed out, and that the brown colour has been de- 
rived from the chitinous fibre alone. In most cf the specimens 
thread-cells are numerous in the clathrate tissue, especially 
towards the centre of the stems, where they can not only be 
distinguished by their subconical form from other globular and 
nucleated cells present (which appear like ova), but, by the 
addition of liquor potasse, may be made to extrude the thick 
portion of the thread. Their procumbent habit has been inferred 
from the main stem and its branches being flattened on one 
side, while the branches and hydrothece are chiefly on the 
other—much in the form of a wall fruit-tree, viz. with a flat 


back. 


12. Mr.H.J. Carter on new Species of Hydractiniide. 


Ceratella spinosa, n. sp. 


Zoophyte procumbent, thickly branched, hard, flexible, of a 
dark rich red-purple colour. Main branches round, brownish, 
covered with small, smooth, often subspatulate, erect spines. 
Stem dividing subdichotomously into purple branchlets, which 
terminate in abruptly pointed extremities. Hydrothece the 
same as in the foregoing species; most prominent over the 
round branchlets, to which they give, en profil, a serrated, 
somewhat Sertularian, appearance, the teeth of which are in- 
clined forwards. Minute structure: main stems composed of 
clathrate chitinous fibre, of which the meshes are more or less 
oblong, passing into prominent longitudinal lines on the 
branchlets, where they terminate on the backs of the semi- 
tubular plates which respectively form the floors of the hydro- 
thecee, to which they thus give support. Size of specimen, 
which is merely a branch, 44 inches long by 2 broad. 

Hab. Marine ; procumbent. 

Loc. Port Natal. 

Obs. The spines on the surface distinguish this from the 
foregoing species, add to which its longer and more pointed 
branches, longitudinally ridged clathrate fibre, and rich red- 
purple colour. It bears the no. 72. 8.1.17, from Port Natal.” 

In Dr. Gray’s two Australian species there are no actual 
spines independently of the projecting portion of clathrate struc- 
ture on the proximal sides of the hydrothecz, and the “ spinu- 
lose”’ little knobs on the surface of Ceratella fusca. 

The hydrotheca in Dehitella atrorubens is formed of a simple 
scoop-like projection of the subrectangular clathrate structure 
of the stem, stopped at the bottom by a septum of the same ; 
there is no decided hole there larger than the diameter of the 
common mesh, for the ccenosare of the interior to communicate 
with the sarcode of the polype, as in the Cape species; while 
in Ceratella fusca, which is almost as delicate in its branches 
as a Sertularia, and not unlike it in the alternate, but here 
spiral not opposite, position of its hydrothecx, the latter are 
formed by a projection of the clathrate tissue in the shape of 
a clam-shell, whose ribs, extended beyond the margin, end 
respectively in an inflated tubercle of the same kind as that 
which characterizes the surface of the stem, rising up like 
little knobs on the knots of the clathrate network, to which 
Dr. Gray (/. c.) has appropriately applied the term “spinulose;”’ 
the bottom of the hydrotheca is filled up with a clathrate 
septum, in which there is no decided hole present as in the fore- 
going species; and in this way both of these from Australia 
differ from those of the Cape of Good Hope. 


Mr. H. J. Carter on new Species of Hydractiniide. 13 


Chitina ericopsis, n. gen. et sp. 

Zoophyte erect, bushy, fragili-flexible, fawn-coloured. 
Trunk long, hard, irregularly round, composed of many stems 
united clathrately and obliquely into a cord-like bundle, which 
divides and subdivides irregularly into branches, that again 
unite with each in substance (anastomose) when in contact, 
and finally form a straggling bushy head. Hydrotheca long, 
clathrate, tubular, terminating the ends of the branchlets or 
prolonged from some of the proliferous tubercles which beset 
the surface of the trunk and larger stems. Minute structure: 
composed of clathrate chitinous fibre throughout, whose mesh- 
work is subrectangular and massive in the stems, where there 
is no difference between the centre and circumference, with the 
exception that the fibre is stouter in the former or oldest part ; 
hydrotheca composed of several longitudinal fibres or ridges lat- 
tice-worked together transversely into a tubular form, somewhat 
contracted at the extremity, in the centre of which is an aper- 
ture of the meshwork a little larger than the rest. Height 
of specimens about 14 inches, trunk about 1 inch in diameter ; 
hydrotheca averaging 1-3rd of an inch long by 1-60th of an 
inch in its broadest part, and the aperture 1-90th of an inch in 
diameter. 

Hab. Marine ; erect. 

Loc. New Zealand. 

Obs. There are several specimens of this beautiful polypidom 
in the British Museum ; one of which (bearing the no. 57. 1. 2. 
36) was presented by Dr. Sinclair, and the rest by Sir G. 
Grey; all from New Zealand. From their worn state they 
appear to have been long subjected to the friction of the waves 
and beach before they were picked up for preservation. Hardly 
any of the hydrothece on them are perfect; and it is only by 
looking carefully over the specimens that one can be found 
answering the description above given; and then it requires to 
be viewed with an inch compound power “end on” (as it is 
termed) to see the aperture at the extremity ; the least incli- 
nation to one side will bring the surrounding network into 
focus, and thus defeat the object of the observer. In some the 
dried remains of the polype are still present, which mark the 
position of the tubular cavity. Conical ovoid thread-cells may 
be seen in the clathrate structure of the polypidom, which 
hang about the fibre in a dried fleshy substance that appears also 
to be the remains of the ccenosarc ; and on some of the larger 
stems there are little superficial holes, which appear to be the 
remains of canals through which the ccenosare was continued 
into the cavities of the hydrothece respectively, now worn 
off. The specimen differs so markedly from all the rest in its 


14. Mr.H. J. Carter on new Species of Hydractiniide. 


erect habit, and in the form and position ofits hydrothece, that 
it must be considered the type of a new genus, to which | 
have given the name of Chitina and designated the species 
ericopsis, from its being so much like the stems of the common 
heather here used for making brooms. 
These species may be provisionally tabulated thus :— 
Family Hydractiniide. 
Incrusting species :— 
Hydractinia echinata. 
HI, levispina. 


Branched procumbent species :— 
Ceratella fusca, Gray. 
Dehitella atrorubens, Gray. 
Ceratella procumbens, n. sp. 
C. spinosa, n. sp. 
Branched erect species :— 
Chitina ericopsis, n. g. et sp. 
In this way [hope to get rid of them from among the Spon- 
giade, and to bring them to the notice of those who have 
specially devoted their attention to the Hydroid Zoophytes. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE I. 


Fig. 1. Upper and lower surfaces respectively of a turbinated (?) shell 
wholly transformed into clathrate chitinous fibre structure by 
Hydractinia levispina (n. sp.): a, upperside; 6, lower ‘side ; ¢, 
smooth area on the latter, produced by friction during the time 
the shell was tenanted by a Pagurus; d, tubercular excrescences 
of the chitinous structure involving one or more spines, which 
the dark points (e) are intended to represent; ff, line of section. 
Natural size. 

Fig. 2. Section of the same through the line ff, fig. 1, showing that the 
columella and every particle of the original shell-substance has 
been replaced by the chitinous structure: a, right side ; 6, left 
side ; cc, layer surmounted by spines (d d@) projecting outwards ; 
ee, surface-layer of the cavity. Natural size. 

Fig. 3. Hydractinia levispina, n. sp., spine of, with portion of subjacent 
clathrate structure at its base, showing that it is merely a conical 
form of the latter; magnified. Real length of spine about 
1-30th inch, diameter of base of spine 1-60th inch. To contrast 
with the serrated form of the following figure. 

Fig. 4. Hydractinia echinata, spine of, about the same size as the fore- 
going. To contrast with fig. 3. , 

Fig. 5, The same, incrusting Buccinum undatum, which contains the re- 
mains of a Pagurus. Magnified portion of lower surface of a 
fragment of the crust, raised by contraction and fracture from the 
inner surface of the outer lip close to the canal, showing that it 
is composed of calcareous matter, through which points of the 
superincumbent chitinous structure (@a@) project. Horizontal 
view. 


Mr. R. Swinhoe on a new Species of Nettapus. 15 


Fig. 6, The same, with the calcareous matter removed by acid, showing 
that the “points ” of the superincumbent chitinous structure are 
the knots of the network, and continuous with or set in a chi- 
tinous expansion or chitinous membraniform layer: a, chitinous 
network; 0, chitinous membrane. Horizontal view. 

Fig. 7. The same portion much more magnified, showing :—a, chitinous 
structure and membrane, from which the calcareous matter 
has been removed by acid,=fig. 6; 6, where the former is still 
covered by the calcareous layer,=fig. 5; ce, where the calcareous 
layer alone remains; dd, points or knots (originally horn-cells) 
in which the branches (ee) arise that {form the network; ff, 
branches which are continuous with, and probably form by ex- 
pansion, the chitinous membrane; g, points which project 
through the calcareous layer; i (=fig. 5), peculiar worm-eaten 
appearance of the calcareous layer, as if produced by a villous 
surface of pseudopodia in connexion with the ccenosarc (?). 
Horizontal view. 

Fig. 8. The same. Thin vertical section of same fragment of crust, 
much magnified, showing that the ccenosare of the lower inter- 
stices of the chitinous structure is charged with white calcareous 
matter; the latter is here represented by the dark shade: a, free 
surface formed of aborted or ill-developed spines, from being in 
contact with the Pagurus; b, surface next the shell; c, older 
chitinous structure without calcareous matter; e, incised knots 
of the chitinous network, showing that the latter is formed in 
layers; f, chitinous membrane or layer, &c., =fig. 6 & fig. 7, a; 
g, calcareous layer, =fig. 5 & fig. 7, b. Diagram. 

Fig. 9. The same. Similar portion, from which the calcareous matter 
has been removed by acid: a, free surface ; 5, surface next the 
shell ; ec, older chitinous network, now much thickened ; d, in- 
terstices of lower part emptied of their calcareous material by 
the acid; e, chitinous network of the same, much thinner in fibre 
than that above it, from being younger and therefore presenting 
wider interstices ; f, chitinous membrane or layer ; g, points of 
chitinous structure projecting through calcareous layer, =fig. 5 
& fig. 7,c, the latter now removed by the acid. Diagram. 


IL—On a new Species of Nettapus (Cotton-Teal) from the 
River Yangtsze, China. By R. Swinnor, H.M. Consul at 
Ningpo. 

In the Abbé Armand David's “Catalogue d’Oiseaux de Chine,” 

published in the ‘ Bulletin’ of the ‘ Nouvelles Archives du Mu- 

séum d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris,’ t. viii. (1871), is entered, 
under number 442, Nettapus coromandelianus,Scop.,as occurring 
on the Yangtsze. In 1869 I spent some months of the early 
year on the Yangtsze and did not notice this bird; I therefore 
made inquiries of my friends at Kiukiang and Chinkiang as to 
whether they had seen such a bird. Mr. Russell (son of the 

‘Times’ correspondent) said that last spring he had noticed a 

pair of such birds as I described perch on the yard-arm of a 

gun-boat lying off the settlement, but that he was not allowed 

to shoot them. Mr. Kopsch, Commissioner of Customs at 


16 Mr. R. Swinhoe on a new Species of Nettapus. 


Kiukiang, gave me a more particular account of the species: 
he said that in spring they are frequently seen perching on the 
roof-tops of the houses in the place, that they were somewhat 
tame, and that in summer he noticed a female and two or three 
young ones paddling about in the patch of water behind their 
houses ; he further stated that they were called by the French 
priests there the ‘ Canard d’été,” and by the Chinese Yew Ya. 
He was fortunate enough to procure two couples on the 25th 
of September, and has sent me a male and two females. What 
surprises me is the appearance of the male bird of this trio, 
which, otherwise attired in the garb of a male, has the neck 
and upper breast marked as in the female, and wanting the 
pectoral collar. Can the species have a winter dress different 
from that of summer? if so, it would scarcely begin to acquire 
it in September. I think, however, that the peculiarity is due 
to its partially assuming after nidification the plumage of the 
female, a strong anatine character, which shows its affinity 
with the true ducks rather than with the geese. I would dedi- 
cate this interesting novelty to Mr. Kopsch, who has taken 
much pains to procure me specimens. 
Nettapus Kopschii, n. sp. 

Male. Crown of the head, upper back, and scapulars brown, 
reflecting purple and green. (In a spring specimen in the col- 
lection of Pere Heude at Shanghai the eyebrow, nape, throat, 
cheeks, and lower neck were white, the back of the neck dingy, 
with a collar on the lower neck, about a quarter of an inch broad, 
of deep iridescent brown.) Our specimen has the white 
markings dingy, the back of the neck brownish, the upper back 
finely mottled with whitish, the lower neck and upper breast 
waved with brown, each feather having two or three concentric 
semicircles of wavy brown. ‘These are the feminine peculiarities 
it acquires after breeding; but the markings are dingier and 
not so well-defined as in the female. 

The rest of his dress, which I will now describe, is as in 
spring. Back deep glossy green; tertiaries like scapulars, but 
reflecting a brighter green ; coverts and secondaries deep duck- 
green; primaries black, reflecting deep green; a broad bar of 
white extends across the middle of the primaries, broadly 
tipping the secondaries and edging the tertiaries; upper tail- 
coverts yellowish grey, with brown stems; tail of twelve 
feathers, angular at tips, 2°8 inches long, the outer quill +7 inch 
shorter than the longest, greyish brown with green gloss; under- 
parts dingy white, the feathers being brownish on their con- 
cealed parts ; flanks light liver-brown ; under tail-coverts pure 
white; axillaries and dark parts of underwing deep black. 


Dr. J. EK. Gray on Ziphioid Whales. 17 


Male: length 114, wing 6 inches. Female: length 13, wing 
6°5, tail 3°2 inches. 

The female has whitish eyebrows meeting at the occiput ; 
her cheeks and throat are whitish; her neck all round and 
upper breast are beautifully waved with blackish brown; her 
upper parts are liver-brown, with a faint sheen of purple or 
or green according to the fall of light; her upper tail-coverts 
are lighter and mottled; her secondary coverts are lightly 
tipped with whitish ; her secondaries broadly tipped, her ter- 
tiaries edged, and a few of her inner primaries marked near 
their tips with whitish ; her tail is coloured as her back; and 
her underparts are dingy white, the feathers being brownish 
at their hidden portions ; axillaries and underwings light liver- 
brown. The soft parts I will leave till I get fresh specimens ; 
they have changed much in colour in the dry skins before me. 
The birds were extremely fat. 


II.—On Berardius and other Ziphioid Whales. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


Proressor FLOWER has given an admirable description and 
figures of the skeleton of Berardius Arnouxt sent to England 
by Dr. Haast and purchased for the Museum of the Royal 
olin of Surgeons. It is very pleasant to see these excellent 
and beautifully illustrated essays on the skeleton of Cetacea, 
which Professor Flower is now publishing in the ‘ Transactions 
of the Zoological Society.’ 

Professor Flower makes some observations on the other 
ziphioid whales. 

I. He observes that the small skull in the Museum at 
Wellington, described and figured in the ‘ Trans. New-Zeal. 
Inst.’ as the young of the Berardius Arnouxi, and which I 
have called Berardius Hectori, belongs to a different section 
of the group (Trans. Z. 8. vol. vii. p. 216)—which must be 
stated on the authority of Dr. Hector’s figure, for the skull has 
not been seen in Europe; and he speaks of it under the genus 
Mesoplodon, observing (“from the conformation of the skull’) 
that the position of the teeth on the side of the jaw is of “ little 
importance as a generic character.” I think zoologists will 
prefer to take their characters from the position of the teeth 
rather than from a small modification in the form of the bones 
of which the skull is composed, which no doubt varies more 
or less in every species. At any rate, this is either a Berardius 
with the bones of which the skull is composed more like in 
shape to those of the skull of Mesoplodon, or a Mesoplodon with 
the teeth of a Berardius. 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol. xi. 2 


18 Dr. J. E. Gray on Ziphioid Whales. 


It makes very little difference which we choose; perhaps some 
day it will be a genus; but zoologists and comparative anato- 
mists, or rather osteologists, look at these things with very 
different eyes: the one only knows the structure of a very limited 
number of animals; and the other has to arrange and classify 
all that come under his or others’ observation. 

I always understood the name Mesodon or Mesoplodon was 
given to the genus because the teeth were more or less in the 
middle of the side of the jaw, which is the case in all the 
species; but if Berardius Hectori be referred to it, this species 
will be the ziphioid whale with the teeth in the middle of the 
side of the jaw, with its teeth at the end of the jaw. To be 
sure there are examples of such nomenclature as Chrysanthe- 
mum (the golden flower) lewcanthemum (with white flowers) ; 
but it is quoted as an example to be avoided. 

II. Speaking of Petrorhynchus capensis, he observes :— 
“ A skull of this animal has been brought from the Cape of 
Good Hope, of which an excellent description has been pub- 
lished by Professor van Beneden, under the name of Ziphius 
indicus ;”” and he goes on to complain that I retain the name 
of Petrorhynchus capensis, “ although its specific identity with 
the last-named previously described specimen is admitted ” by 
myself. 

apes good may be M. van Beneden’s “ description,” his 
figure is most inaccurate, both in form, proportion, and detail ; 
and I could not have believed that it belonged to the same 
species, or, scarcely, genus, until M. van Beneden sent me a 
cast of the beak of his specimen. I do not see how we can 
use the name indicus for a species which has only been 
found in the seas around the Cape of Good Hope. The 
Indian zoologists object to our giving the name of India to 
the whole of Hindostan ; but what would they say if we used 
indicus for a species only found in Africa? I believe that 
the name indicus was given under the belief that it was not 
a native of Africa, but only “ brought from the Cape” as an 
entrepot. I have a further objection: I am informed that 
in the Indian seas a species of the genus is found which, from 
the description I have received of it, is distinct. 

Professor Flower says that the skeleton of the “ Hyperoodon 
de Corse” of Doumet is preserved at Cette, and that the skull 
is figured by M. Gervais in the ‘ Ostéographie des Cétacés,’ 
t. 21. f. 8, 9, which certainly is called “ Ziphius de Corse ;” 
but I was not quite sure that they were from M. Doumet’s 
specimen. Mr. Flower, I suppose, has private information on 
this head from M. Gervais, as M. Gervais’s text of these plates 
has not been published yet. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Ziphioid Whales. 19 


I also observe that Duvernoy gave the name of ‘‘ Hyperoodon 
Gervaisti”’ and Fischer’s “ Ziphius Gervaisii” to the skull 
in the Paris Museum, from the Hérault, which I proposed, in 
the ‘Annals,’ 1872, x. p. 469, should be called Hpiodon 
Heraultii, but which I gladly change to that of Hpiodon Ger- 
vaistt. I see Professor Flower erroneously refers to ‘ Ostéogr. 
Cét.’ t. 21. f. 1-6 for this specimen ; it should be f. 1-4. 

Mr. Krefft, some time ago, sent me a photograph of the 
skeleton of a ziphioid whale which is in the Museum of 
Sydney, and was obtained from an animal stranded in Little 
Bay, about six miles from Sydney, which he marked as 
Mesoplodon longirostris, Krefft. It appears to be, from the 
scale appended, 18 feet long. The angle and symphysis of 
the lower jaw appears to be rather elongate and attenuated in 
front; and the beak is about twice and a half the length of the 
brain-cavity, measuring from the notch; and the head is one 
fifth of the entire length. The photograph does not show any 
teeth ; and the skull resembles that of the figure of Berardius 
Hectort ; but the beak is rather longer in proportion to the size 
of the head. 

In the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1871,’ vii. 
p- 368, I published a note which I had received and the figure 
from the photograph of a tooth which Mr. Krefft sent to me, 
as “the photograph of the tooth of a new whale, 18 feet long, 
caught in Little Bay. It is allied to the genus Mesoplodon ; 
and I propose to call it Mesoplodon Ginthert.” He says, 
“ We have the entire skeleton ;” so that there can be no doubt 
of its being the same as the one he named, but did not describe 
or publish, as Mesoplodon longirostris, which Professor Flower 
thinks is closely allied to, if not identical with, Ziphius Lay- 
ardi. 'The form and surface of the tooth which is figured 
from Mr. Krefft’s photograph appeared to me so unlike that 
of any other ziphioid whale known that I regarded it as in- 
dicating a new genus, which I proposed to call Callidon. 

Dr. Krefft explains that the tooth is not visible from with- 
out; it is imbedded in the mandible, and the tip is bent 
towards the margin. It is as unlike the strap-shaped tooth of 
Ziphius Layardi as it is possible to be ; and as longirostris has 
not been published, I propose to call it Callidon Ginthert. 

The skeleton seems, from the photograph, to be one of the 
most perfect known. 


Q* 


20 On the Peregrine Falcon from Sardinia. 


IV.—On the Peregrine Falcon from Sardinia. By R. 
Bowpter SuHarre, F.L.S., F.Z.8., &c., Senior Assistant, 
Zoological Department, British Museum. 


For the last two years I have been endeavouring to show 
that, owing to the insulated position of our native land, a ten- 
dency to vary from the continental forms exhibits itself more 
or less in all our resident birds ; and that this will be found to 
be more and more the case I am firmly convinced, if ornitho- 
logists will view the matter calmly and endeavour to get 
together good series for comparison. Great difficulty exists to 
some minds in believing that our insular forms do really vary ; 
and this scepticism is the more curious because, if we had been 
considering the avifauna of some distant land, every one would 
have expected, rather than otherwise, that an island lying off 
the coast of a large continent would possess a more or less 
modified fauna: but the difficulty consists in recognizing the 
fact after it has been ignored for nearly a century by ever 
English writer on birds; and I have been called to task by 
several ornithological friends because, as I contend, I refuse 
to disbelieve the evidence of my own eyesight, which proves 
to me the distinctness of some of the British birds from their 
continental relations. What I do maintain is, that ornitholo- 
gists commit an error in applying to our English birds the 
titles which Linneeus bestowed upon his Swedish species. 
Whether the birds which I have from time to time named 
with Mr. Dresser will ultimately be recognized as distinct 
species, or will merely be considered climatic races or sub- 
species, the future will decide ; but as long as those differences 
exist it will be wrong to affix ‘ Linneus” as the namer of 
birds he never saw. 

It is with regard to the differences exhibited in a like 
degree by the avifauna of Sardinia that I have been led to 
make the above remarks; and I believe that the latter island 
will be found to contain a modified fauna from that of the 
mainland. We know that it contains a species of Warbler 
almost, if not quite, peculiar to itself. So nearly does Sylvia 
melanocephala resemble the true Melizophilus sardus in some 
of its plumages, that I have reason to believe that it has often 
been mistaken for it. I myself have never seen an example 
of the latter bird from any other locality but Sardinia ; nor do 
I know any one else who has done so. Until the fact of its 
wandering is clearly proved, therefore, I think we may look upon 
S. sarda as peculiar to the island of Sardinia; and we may 
expect from this to find other modifications in its avifauna. 
My friend Mr. A. Basil Brooke has lately lent me two 


On the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 21 


Falcons from Sardinia which can hardly be any thing but a 
new species; for they differ from every other Peregrine which 
I have ever seen from Europe, and more closely approach 
the southern forms /. melanogenys and F. nigriceps. The 
Sardinian birds, however, differ from these as well as the 
common Peregrine in the very strongly marked oval or tear- 
shaped spots on the chest, and the very broad and closely 
marked bars on the breast. They approach /. melanogenys 
in having a greater extent of black on the ear-coverts, which 
nearly meets the cheek-stripe along the whole of its length. 
Both specimens are fully adult females, and agree entirely ; 
they were shot by Mr. Brooke in April 1869 and April 1871 
respectively. I have no doubt that the characters above men- 
tioned will be found to be constant, and therefore propose to 
describe the Sardinian bird as 


Falco Brooket, sp. n. 


F, similis F. peregrino, sed statura paullo minore, facie laterali tota 
nigricante, et pectore latissime nigro transfasciato distinguendus. 


Hab. Sardinia (A. B. Brooke). 

Mr. Brooke has very kindly presented one of the typical 
specimens to the national collection; so that the species can 
be examined by any one visiting the British Museum. The 
measurements of #. Brooket (in skin) as compared with F. 
peregrinus are as follows :— 


Long. tot. culm. alee. caude. tarsi. 
F. peregrinus, 9 ad..... 19:0 1:45 13:8 76 2:15 
F. Brooket, 2 ad... 2... 17:0 1:35 13:5 70 2-00 


V.—WNotes on the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 
By H. W. Bates, Esq., F.L.S. 


Subfamily Rumworraciwz. 


The “groupes,” corresponding to our subfamilies, under 
which Lacordaire classed the genera of Longicorns, and of 
which he established about eighty in the family Cerambycide 
alone, are seldom distinguished by definite group-characters. 
The rule seems to be that in each “groupe” modifications of 
form appear which do not occur in the same conjunction in 
any other; but every single modification is liable to disappear 
in some members of the “groupe.”’ Thus there is a looseness 
and uncertainty of definition in the classification of this family 
which cannot be agreeable to rigid systematists ; but they are 


22 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


inevitable, and the more attentively the Longicorns are studied 
the more hopeless rigid definitions of genera and subfamilies 
appear. 

The Rhinotragine are a subfamily of the same section of 
the Cerambycide to which the familiar genera Callichroma, 
Necydalis, &c. belong, 7. e. having finely faceted eyes. They 
are remarkable for the very general abbreviation of the elytra 
in the species, and the mimetic resemblances that many of them 
bear to wasps, bees, Ichneumonidee, and so forth—aresemblance 
which is much aided by the subrudimentary condition of the 
elytra and the prevailing style of coloration. In the imago 
state they frequent flowers, in company with the Hymenoptera 
many of them resemble, and are very nimble fliers, probably 
in consequence of the abbreviation of the elytra and great 
development of the membranous wings. An almost universal 
character of the group is the large volume of the eyes, especially 
of the lower lobes, which in the males nearly meet in front : 
this forms the nearest approach to an exclusive character of 
the group; butit disappears in some few species. ‘The head, 
too, is very generally elongated below the eyes, forming a 
muzzle ; but this character exists in several other subfamilies 
of Cerambycide. The palpi are short, and their terminal joints 
nearly cylindrical or cylindric-ovate, truncated at the apex. 
The antenne are almost always more or less serrated from the 
sixth joint; and the third to sixth joints are furnished with 
setee on their outer sides. The thorax is cylindrical or ovate, 
always unarmed at the sides. The prosternum forms a distinct, 
though narrow, level plate between the anterior coxe ; and the 
episterna of the metasternum are always triangular and very 
broad in front. ‘The anterior coxe are generally obliquely ex- 
serted ; but this is an inconstant character. 

In deciding whether a Cerambycid with finely faceted eyes 
belongs to this group or not, the characters chiefly to be looked 
to are (1) the volume of the lower lobe of the eyes and the 
extent to which this has become frontal, (2) the presence of a 
distinct prosternal process, and (3) the prolongation of the head 
below the eyes. Species in which the eyes are lateral and the 
prosternal process narrow or obsolete are either Necydaline or 
Molorchine. 'The abbreviation of the elytra is not an essential 
character. The triangular shape of the metasternal episterna 
ought, however, I think, to be considered a sine qué non; this 
would exclude Zrichomesia, an Australian genus which La- 
cordaire places in the “groupe,” and which is the only form in 
it not belonging to Tropical America. 

Although so forbidding to the pure systematist, the Rhino- 
tragine are full of interest to the general naturalist, on account 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 23 


of their mimetic disguises and the beautiful illustrations they 
offer of the mode in which divergent modifications occur in 
nature. For example, it is most instructive to observe, in forms 
so very closely allied, that whilst some species have rudimentary 
elytra, ample wings, and wasp-like bodies, or bee-like hind 
tibie (such as many of the species of Odontocera, Charis, and 
Tomopterus), others have elytra developed to the opposite 
extreme, and, aided by colours and facies, become the mimetic 
analogues of various Coleoptera—such as Oxylymma (re- 
sembling Galerucide), chmutes (resembling Lycide), and 
Erythroplatys (resembling Hispide). The lesson plainly taught 
here, to those who believe in the origin of species by natural 
variation and selection, is that the Rhinotragine have varied 
in many directions, and that, a protective disguise of one kind 
or other being necessary to the species, the variations have 
been gradually drawn out in many different directions, ac- 
cording as they resembled some object at hand which it was 
advantageous to resemble. In the present stage it cannot be 
said that the species are remarkable for variability in the parts 
of their structure involved in the adaptations here mentioned : 
but they are generally insects of great rarity ; and wherever a 
large number of examples are at hand (e. g. Acyphoderes auru- 
lentus, femoratus, and hirtipes, Ommata (Agaone) notabilis), 
there is a large amount of variation in general form and colour. 
If, however, we look at the differences between very closely 
allied species the most abrupt changes are seen—such, for in- 
stance, as those between Odontocera fasciata (resembling a wasp) 
and O. compressipes (resembling a bee, with pollen-gathering 
apparatus to the hind tibiew). In fact the abruptness with 
which important parts of structure change from species to 
species renders the definition of genera impossible in this group; 
almost every species offers structural characters sufficient in 
amount to render generic separation plausible. 


Genus OxyLyMMA, Pascoe. 
Pascoe, Trans. Ent. Soc. ser. 2, v. p. 21; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 500. 


1. Oxylymma lepida, Pascoe, I. c. p. 22, pl. 11. f. 3. 


Ega, Amazons. 


2. Oxylymma telephorina, Bates. 
Oxylymma telephorina, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 316. 
Ega, Amazons. 


3. Oxylymma gibbicollis, n. sp. 


O. flavo-testacea, erecte pilosa ; occipite, articulis antennarum 2°-5"" 


24 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


vittaque angusta laterali et suturali elytrorum, et metasterno, 
nigris; thorace antice valde convexo, postice abrupte depresso, rufo, 
maculis fuscis. Long. 4 lin. 


Bahia (coll. W. W. Saunders). 

Head. with much-elongated muzzle, testaceous yellow, shi- 
ning; occiput and neck black. Antenne with basal and fifth 
and sixth joints yellowish, streaked with black exteriorly, 
second to fourth joints shining black, rest yellowish. ‘Thorax 
strongly rounded on the sides, disk anteriorly gibbous, base 
strongly depressed and constricted ; reddish, with four dusky 
triangular spots on the anterior part, which spots have numerous 
large circular punctures, the rest of the surface being smooth. 
Elytra depressed, pale yellow, clothed with long, erect, pale 
hairs, apex briefly sinuate-truncate, with acute angles to the 
truncature ; surface closely punctured. Body beneath and legs 
waxy yellow, shining ; metasternum black. 

This species has a close resemblance to a species of Diabro- 
tica (fam. Galerucide). 


Genus RurnoTracus, Germar. 
Germar, Ins. Sp. Noy. p. 518; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 500. 


1. Rhinotragus dorsiger, Germar, 1. c. 

Var. Rhinotragus marginatus, Perty, Del. An. Art. Bras. 
p. 94, t, 19. f. 1. 

R. anceps, Newm. Ent. Mag. v. p. 495. 

8. Brazil. 

R. marginatus is considered a distinct species by some ento- 
mologists. 

2. Rhinotragus apicalis, Guérin-Méneville. 
Rhinotragus apicalis, Guérin-Ménev. Icon. R. A. p. 236. 
Bolivia. Prov. Parand, Brazil. 


3. Rhinotragus analis, Serville. 
Rhinotragus analis, Sery. Ann, Soc. Ent. Fr. 1833, p. 550. 


S. Brazil. 
4. Rhinotragus festivus, Perty. 


Rhinotragus festivus, Perty, Del. An. Art. p. 94, t. 19. f. 2. 
R. suturalis, Serv. Ann. Soc. Fr. 1833, p. 550. 


S. Brazil. 

5. Rhinotragus trilineatus, White. 
Rhinotragus trilineatus, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 
R. Amazons. 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 25 


Genus ErYTHROPLATYS, White. 
White, Gat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus, p. 201. 


1. Erythroplatys corallifer, White, 1. c. p. 202, pl. v. f. 2. 


Santarem, Amazons, on flowers. Resembles to deception 
the Hispid Cephalodonta spinipes. 


2. Erythroplatys rugosus, Lucas. 


Rhinotragus rugosus, Lucas, Voyage de Castelnau, Entomologie, p. 182, 
BL eet. fs 


Interior of Brazil. 


3. ?Erythroplatys Lucasti, Thomson. 
Rhinotragus Lucasti, Thoms, Classif, des Céramb. p. 178. 
Interior of Guiana. 


Genus AicHMuTES, Bates. 


Bates, Entom. Monthly Mag. iv. p. 23 (1867). 
Syn. Ornistomus, Thoms. Syst. Ceramb. p. 166 (1864). 


The differences between these two genera are too small to 
warrant their separation. ‘Thomson’s genus is not mentioned 
in Lacordaire’s great work ; but there can be no doubt that 
this is its right place, and not in the neighbourhood of Ptero- 
platus, with which it was possibly confounded by Lacordaire. 
The species of the genera here united, although differing very 
greatly in size and in the form of the apex of the elytra, both 
resemble the Lycide. I hesitate to admit M. Thomson’s name, 
as it may prove, when its faulty grammatical construction is 
corrected (as it is sure to be by subsequent authors), to have 
been already employed in zoology. 


1. Achmutes bicinctus, Thomson. 
Ornistomus bicinctus, Thoms., 7. e. p. 167. 


S. Brazil. 
2. dichmutes lycoides, Bates. 
A’chmutes lycoides, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc, 1870, p. 332. 


Ega, Amazons. 


Genus OrEGOSTOMA, Serville. 
Sery. Ann. Soc. Fr. 1833, p. 551; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 501. 
1. Oregostoma rubricorne, Serv. l. ¢. 
Rhinotragus coccineus, Guérin-Méney, Icon. R. A., Ins. pl. 44. f. 7. 


S. Brazil. 


26 - Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


2. Oregostoma luridum, Klug. 
Stenopterus luridus, Klug, Entom. Bras, Spec. alter. p. 470, pl. 44. f. 3. 
S. Brazil. 
Genus Ommata, White. 
White, Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 194; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 502. 


White founded the genus Ommata on a species from Vene- 
zuela, distinguished by its very long antenne, thickened and 
not serrated towards the apex; with this character are associated 
vitreous narrowed elytra and tufted hind tibie. Lacordaire 
considers these features of less generic importance than the 
normal relative forms of the metasternum and abdomen and 
the exserted anterior coxe. In these latter points White’s 
insect agrees with a large number of species of the most diver- 
sified forms and colours; and an examination of very copious” 
material has not yielded me any more definite generic distinc- 
tions than those mentioned by Lacordaire. It is true that the 
type, Ommata elegans, and a second species that may be asso- 
ciated with it, O. Maia of Newman, differ from all the other 
Ommate (sensu Lacord.) in their vitreous elytral surface ; but 
O. clavicornis and some other species with opaque elytra come 
very close to O. Maia, and the genus would have to be split up 
into a large number of smaller genera if Ommata were to be 
restricted to the two species here named. The genus com- 
prehends a series of species which for the most part are at once 
distinguishable by their facies from Odontocera ; and in cases 
of doubt I have treated the opaque and punctured elytra as a 
differential character. 

The genus Agaone, Pascoe, which I formerly adopted, I find 
on the examination of further material to be quite untenable ; 
or if it be maintained, it must be restricted to the typical species, 
A. notabilis. 


I. Legs long and slender ; middle femora gradually and moderately 
clavate. 


A. Elytra entire or nearly so. (Pheenissa.) 


1. Ommata (Pheenissa) nigripes, Serville. 
Oregostoma nigripes, Sery. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1833, p. 552. 
8. Brazil. 


2. Ommata (Phenissa) bipartita, n. sp. 
O. nigripede gracilior, thorace magis cylindrico, elytrorum plus quam 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 27 


dimidio apicali nigro; nigra, thorace et fere dimidio basali ely- 
trorum coccineis. Long. 41-51 lin. Q. 


Prov. Parané, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. 
Bates). 

sal closely allied to O. nigripes (Serv.). Smaller and 
narrower, thorax narrower and more regularly cylindrical, the 
black portion of the elytra extending rather more than halfway 
towards the base. The head is coarsely scabrous-punctate as 
in O. nigripes; the antenne are very slightly thickened 
towards the tips, with the third to fifth joints linear and the 
following moderately serrate. The thorax and elytra are 
closely reticulate-punctate, the latter more deeply so than in 
O.nigripes ; they are slightly narrowed in the middle, and reach 
the apex of the abdomen, with the tips broadly and obliquely 
truncate and the sutural angle briefly spmose. The abdomen 
is dark blue and shining. 


3. Ommata (Phanissa) punicea, Newman. 
Rhinotragus puniceus, Newm. Entom. Mag. v. p. 495. 
8S. Brazil. 
There are many examples in the British-Museum collection, 
all distinguished from O. nigripes by their slenderer shape and 


two small black spots placed transversely on the disk of the 
thorax. 


4. Ommata (Phenissa?) discoidea, Serville. 
Oregostoma discoidea, Sery. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1833, p. 552. 
S. Brazil. 


AA. Elytra moderately narrowed posteriorly. 
a. Elytra scarcely abbreviated, apex truncated. (Chrysaéthe.)} 


5. Ommata atrata, Bates. 

Ommata atrata, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1872, p. 184. 
S. Brazil. 

6. Ommata asperiventris, Bates. 
Ommata asperiventris, Bates, Trans, Ent. Soc. 1872, p. 184. 
S. Brazil. 

7. Ommata cyanipennis, Bates. 
Ommata cyanipennis, Bates, Trans. Ent, Soc. 1872, p. 184. 
Chontales, Nicaragua. 


8. Ommata aurata, Bates. 
Ommata aurata, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 320. 


R. Amazons. 


28 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


9. Ommata smaragdina, Bates. 
Ommata smaragdina, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 320. 
R. Amazons. 


10. Ommata Beltiana, Bates. 
Ommata Beltiana, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1872, p. 184. 
Chontales, Nicaragua. 


aa. Elytra narrowed and rounded at the tip ; antennee elongated and 
_ thickened at apex, not serrated. 


* Elytra shining or vitreous. (Ommata, typical.) 


The elytra have an elevated line along their posterior part, 
parallel to the outer margin. 


11. Ommata elegans, White. 
Ommata elegans, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus, p, 194, pl. v. f. 6. 


Venezuela. 
12. Ommata Maia, Newman. 


Odontocera Maia, Newman, Entomologist, p. 92. 


Rio Janeiro, Brazil. Not uncommon in collections. 

I have seen a third species of this group in Dr. Baden’s 
collection, in which the antenne are half as long again as the 
body ; but the specimen is in too imperfect a state for description. 


** Elytra opaque. (Rhopalessa.) 


13. Ommata clavicornis, n. sp. 


O. gracilis, nigra, longe erecte pubescens, thorace (marginibus antico 
et postico nigris exceptis) sanguineo, breviter cylindrico, polito, 
plagiatim punctato ; elytris integris, crebre punctatis; antennis 
elongatis, articulis 3°-6™ Linearibus,9°-11"™ valde dilatatis, leviter 
serratis. Long.4lin. 9. 


Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro (coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. 
Bates). 

Allied to the typical species, O. elegans, in the form of the 
antenne, but differing in the elytra being very nearly entire 
and without vitreous polish on their surface. The head has a 
short muzzle, the eyes (female) widely distant, and the forehead 
coarsely but sparsely punctured, with silvery pubescence. The 
sixth to eighth antennal joints are pale at the base. The thorax 
is short, smoothly convex and shining, with moderately small 
punctures in patches. The elytra are very little narrowed, 
and reach to the middle of the pygidium, their apex being 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 29 


very obtusely truncated, and their surface closely punctate- 
rugose and clothed with curled whitish hairs. The under 
surface is clothed with similar hairs. The legs are slender, 
the thighs somewhat suddenly clavate, and the hind legs 
distinctly elongated ; their colour is pitchy, with the base of 
the hind thighs pale testaceous. 


14. Ommata tenuis, Burmeister. 
Rhinotragus tenuis, Burmeister, Stettin. ent. Zeit. 1865, p. 173. 


Parané. 

Burmeister describes the antenne as strongly thickened at 
the tip andthe elytra punctured and opaque. As he does not 
mention the form of the elytra, and places the species in Lhi- 
notragus, it is to be inferred they are subentire and perhaps 
truncated. 


II. Legs slender ; middle femora abruptly but not very broadly 
clavate ; elytra with sides subparallel, apex truncated. (Kclipta.) 


A. Elytra abbreviated. 


15. Ommata Hirene, Newman. 
Odontocera Eirene, Newman, Entomologist, p. 92. 


S. Brazil. 

The elytra reach the middle of the third abdominal segment, 
and are obtusely truncated ; the antenne: are thickened and 
serrate from the seventh joint. 

There is a sexual difference in coloration. The female, 
described by Newman, has unicolorous greenish-black elytra 
and white hind tarsi; the male has a pale testaceous vitta near 
the suture, extending from the base to two thirds the length 
of the elytra, and the hind tarsi are black with cinereous hairs. 


16. Ommata castanea, n. sp. 


O. linearis, breviter pubescens, antennis basi pedibusque nigris ; 
elytris abbreviatis ad suturam dehiscentibus. Long. 5 lin. 9°. 


Prov. Rio Janeiro, Brazil (coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates). 

Head thickly punctured, except the lower part of the fore- 
head; muzzle elongated, not narrowed. Antenne (female) three 
fourths the length of the body, thickened but scarcely serrate 
towards the tips, joints 3 to 6 linear; basal joints black, 
apical pale tawny. Thorax elongate cylindrical, densely re- 
ticulate-punctate. Elytra considerably narrowed from near 
the base, but parallel afterwards to the apex, which is truncated 
and scarcely reaches the base of the penultimate ventral 


30 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


segment; they are widely divergent at the suture. The legs 
are black, the hind pair much elongated, with distinctly clavate 
femora. 


_ 17. Ommata thoracica, n. sp. 


O. elongata, angusta, plumbeo-nigra, cano breviter pubescens, thorace 
angusto, rufo, crebre reticulato-punctato ; elytris paulo abbreviatis, 
apice recte truncatis. Long. 43 lin. : 


Prov. Parandé et Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro (coll. W. W. 
Saunders, Dr, Baden, and H. W. Bates). 

A slender, narrow species, with elytra very moderately 
narrowed and parallel from a little beyond the base, and 
reaching a little beyond the base of the penultimate segment, 
their apices sharply truncate, and their suture slightly gaping. 
Head rugose-punctate, with much-elongated muzzle. Antenne 
(female) two thirds the length of the body, black ; third to 
sixth joints linear, but rather short and stout, the following a 
little thickened and but slightly serrated. Thorax elongate, 
convex, uneven ; surface entirely covered with shallow circular 
pits, leaving narrow reticulated interstices. Elytra closely 
punctured. Legs rather slender, shining black ; thighs some- 
what abruptly clavate, hind legs elongated. 

I have seen this species labelled O. collaris of Serv.; but 
Serville says this species has the elytra “acuminées postérieure- 
ment,” which character applies neither to this nor the following 
similarly coloured species. 


18. Ommata flavicollis, n. sp. 


O. postice angustata, nigra, thorace flavo-aurantiaco, opaco, haud 
distincte punctato; elytris abbreviatis, versus apicem paulo an- 
gustatis, apice truncatis. Long. 4 lin. ¢ @. 


Prov. Parand, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders and H, W. 
Bates). 

Closely allied to the preceding, but the antenne shorter and 
the elytra not reaching the apex of the antepenultimate ventral 
segment. Head coarsely punctured ; muzzle much elongated ; 
eyes (male) almost contiguous, (female) separated by only a 
short distance. Antenne scarcely two thirds the length of the 
body ; third to sixth joints linear but rather thick, and fifth and 
sixth a little widened at apex ; they are black, but in the male 
the seventh to eleventh joints are pale at the base. Thorax 
opaque, orange-yellow, without visible punctuation. Elytra 
very closely subconfluent-punctate. The legs are moderately 
slender, the thighs elongate-clavate. 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 31 


19. Ommata Eunomia, Newman. 
Odontocera Eunomia, Newman, Entomologist, p. 92. 


S. Brazil. 

Described by Newman from a single specimen. In colours 
the species is variable—the upper surface of the thorax being 
either wholly black, slightly embrowned in the centre, or 
wholly fulvous ; and the yellow vitta of the elytra sometimes 
extends to the suture, and is sometimes confined to the disk, or 
wholly wanting. Throughout all the varieties, however, the 
front of the head, the four anterior femora, and the basal half 
of the hind pair are bright fulvous. The elytra scarcely pass 
the base of the antepenultimate segment, and are sharply 
sinuate-truncate at the apex. The antenne have the third to 
sixth joints linear; and the rest are not thickened, and only 
slightly serrated. The thorax is somewhat irregularly reticu- 
late-punctate. The elytra are closely punctate and obscured 
by soft incumbent silky pile. 


20. Ommata brachialis, n. sp. 


O. gracilis, fusco-nigra, infra dense cano pubescens; femoribus 
anticis fulvis, femoribus posticis basi albo-testaceis. Long. 3—4 
fin. i‘. 


Proy. Rio Janeiro, Brazil (coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates). 

Very closely allied to O. Hunomia. Elytra more elongate, 
passing the base of the penultimate segment, and obtusely (not 
sinuate) truncate at the apex. The head is wholly black; and 
the anterior thighs only are fulvous, the extreme base of the 
other pairs being whitish. ‘The eyes (male) are separated by 
a narrow space on the forehead. The antenne are three fourths 
the length of the body, and thickened towards the apex; they 
are dull black, with bases of seventh to eleventh joints 
fulvous ; the third to fifth joints are long, slender, and linear. 
The thorax is narrow, and reticulate-punctate in three longi- 
tudinal patches, the interstices being scarcely punctured. The 
elytra are closely punctured. The legs are long, especially 
the hind pair, and the thighs distinctly clavate. 


21. Ommata monostigma, Bates. 
Agaone monostigma, Bates, Trans, Ent. Soc. 1869, p. 384. 
Chontales, Nicaragua. 


22. Ommata liturifera, n. sp. 
O, linearis, angusta, fulvo-testacea; occipite lituraque magna pro- 


32 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


thoracis (H simulante) nigris; elytris paulo abbreviatis, late 
truncatis, crebre punctatis. Long. 22-4 lin. ¢ 9. 


Prov. Rio Janeiro, Brazil (coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates). 

Head tawny testaceous; occiput, and in female a frontal 
streak, black; coarsely punctured; muzzle moderately elongated, 
not narrowed; eyes in male contiguous in front, in female 
widely distant. Antenne rather short, filiform, serrate, joints 
3-5 linear; tawny testaceous, tips of joimts brown. Thorax 
cylindrical, a little constricted in front and behind, very coarsely 
punctured ; tawny, with two broad vitte on the disk, joined 
in the middle by a fascia, black, a black vitta also on each flank. 
Elytra reaching to the middle of the penultimate ventral 
segment, moderately narrowed from near the base and parallel, 
apex sharply truncate; colour light tawny brown, thickly but 
separately punctured. Body beneath yellowish, breast and 
middle of abdomen black. Legs slender, thighs rather abruptly 
clavate, hind legs moderately elongate; testaceous yellow, 
femoral clava ringed with black, tibie and tarsi also black. 


AA. Elytra nearly reaching the tip of the abdomen. 


23. Ommata prolixa, n. sp. 


O. elongata, angusta, setosa, testaceo-rufa ; capite (epistomate ex- 
cepto), maculis thoracis duabus dorsalibus alteraque utrinque 
elytrorum humerali, pectore et pedibus nigris, femoribus basi 
albo-testaceis; elytris pallide fuscis postice obscurioribus ; an- 
tennis modice elongatis apice vix incrassatis, nigris, articulis basi 
pallidis ; thorace antice angustato, supra inequali, grosse disperse 
punctato ; elytris subintegris, crebre punctatis, apice oblique trun- 
catis. Long.4 lin. 9. 


Prov. Parand, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders). 

Closely allied to O. eribripennis, but more elongated, 
especially the elytra. The eyes (female) are more distant on 
the forehead, and the space between them is wide, plane, and 
(like the rest of the head) coarsely punctured. The antennz 
have the third to fifth joints linear, and the following very 
gradually thickened, but not produced, at their inner apical 
angles. The hind legs are very little elongated, and the thighs 
moderately clubbed. 


24. Ommata lanuginosa, n. sp. 


O. linearis, fulvo-testacea, aureo breviter pubescens, opaca ; occipite, 
thoracis disco femoribusque (partim) nigris; antennis filiformibus, 
articulis 7°-10"™ vix serratis haud incrassatis ; thorace cylindrico, 
supra longitudinaliter biimpresso, reticulato-punctato ; elytris 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 33 


vix abbreviatis, acute truncatis, fulvo-fuscis, creberrime punctatis. 
Long. 4 lin. ¢. 


- 

Prov. Rio Janeiro (coll. Dr. Baden). 

Opaque, clothed with a fine incumbent golden pile, short on 
the elytra, but longer and denser on the sides of the thorax, on 
the breast, and in the middle of the abdominal segments. ‘The 
head is tawny testaceous, with the crown and occiput and part 
of the epistome black ; the eyes (male) do not reach the median 
line; the muzzle is much elongated. The antennz are dull 
tawny brown. The thorax is cylindrical, almost bisulcate 
along the disk, closely reticulate-punctate, with the whole disk 
dull black, and margins (like the under surface) tawny testa- 
ceous. The elytra reach the base of the terminal segment and 
are sharply sinuate-truncate ; their surface is very regularly 
and closely punctured and opaque. ‘The legs are moderately 
slender, the femora rather abruptly but not thickly clavate, 
and the first joint of the hind tarsi is equal in length to the 
remaining three ; the femora and tibia are indistinctly clouded 
with blackish. 


25. Ommata cribripennts, n. sp. 


O. linearis, angusta, setosa, melleo-flava ; occipite supra maculaque 
basali pronoti nigris ; antennis apicem versus vix incrassatis, nigris, 
scapo infra articulisque 3°-10™ basi melleo-flavis ; elytris pallide 
fuscis, subintegris, crebre sed discrete grosse punctatis, apice 
oblique truncatis ; pedibus posticis elongatis, femoribus omnibus 
clavatis. Long. 3 lin. ¢ 9. 


Prov. Parand, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. 
Bates). 

Closely allied to O. (Agaone) malthinoides (Bates), but the 
elytra less attenuated than in that species ; in fact these organs 
are entire, with the exception of the narrowness of the epi- 
pleure from a little beyond the base, and they leave only the 
tip of the pygidium exposed. The eyes of the male do not 
approach so closely on the forehead as in the allied species. 
The third to fifth antennal joints are linear, and the rest are 
only very slightly produced at their inner apical angles. The 
thorax is cylindrical and very coarsely, but regularly and not 
closely, punctured. The legs are clear honey-yellow, with the 
exception of a brown spot at the apex of the hind femora. 


26. Ommata erythrodera, n. sp. 


O. clavicorni simillima, differt antennis brevibus gracilibus, articulis 
6°-11"™ basi flavis. Linearis, fusco-nigra nitida, sparsim pubes- 
cens ; thorace cylindrico, angusto, supra conyexo, paulo inzequali, 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 3 


34 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


grossissime sparsim punctato, lete rufo nitido, marginibus anticis 

et posticis nigris; elytris vix abbreviatis, acute truncatis, nigro- 

fuscis, passim grosse regulariter punctatis, nitidis ; femoribus sub- 

abrupte haud fortiter clavatis, basi albis. Long. 4 lin. 9. 

Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro (coll. Dr. Baden). 

Deceptively similar to O. clavicornis in general form, colour, 
and in the form and proportions of the legs ; but differs at once 
in the moderately short slender antenne, ringed with pale tes- 
taceous at the base of joints 6 to 11; this character would 
bring it into a different genus were the antenne taken as 
guides. The head is shining black, regularly punctured, with 
much longer muzzle than in O. clavicornis and not pubescent ; 
the space between the eyes on the front (female) is quite plane 
and very moderate for this sex. The elytra reach beyond the 
base of the terminal segment and are broadly and subsinuately 
truncate; their surface is shining, free from incumbent pubes- 
cence, and covered with separate punctures decidedly larger 
than those of O.clavicornis; im shape they are parallel-sided 
from after the base. The underside of the body is shining black, 
scantily clothed with grey pubescence. The basal joint of the 
posterior tarsi is narrow, but shorter than the remaining joints 
taken together. 

27. Ommata vitticollis, n. sp. 

O. linearis, angusta, nigra; capite angusto, grosse punctato melleo- 
flavo; thorace elongato antice angustato, supra insequali, grosse 
disperse ocellato-punctato, nigro, vitta dorsali et infra melleo-flayis ; 
elytris subintegris, apice obtuse truncatis, passim crebre ocellato- 
punctatis. Long. 34 lin. Q. 

Prov. Parand, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. 
Bates). 

Differs in form from the allied species, the head and thorax 
being small in proportion to the elytra, and the thorax narrowed 
anteriorly. ‘The antenne are three fourths the length of the 
body, and scarcely thickened towards the tips; the third to 
sixth joints are linear; they are black, with the exception of 
the pale bases of joints ninth to eleventh. ‘The femora are 
distinctly clavate and the hind legs elongated, as in the typical 
forms of the genus. 


28. Ommata malthinoides, Bates. 
Agaone malthinoides, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 319. 
R. Amazons, 
29. Ommata rujficollis, Bates. 
Agaone ruficollis, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 319. 
R. Amazons. 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 35 


30. Ommata anoguttata, n. sp. 


O. elongato-linearis, supra plana, subtiliter pubescens, fusca, elytris 
apice macula trafsversa flava. Long.5lin. 9. 


Prov. Parand, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. 
Bates). 

Head fulvo-testaceous, shining, thickly punctured, muzzle 
elongated ; space between the eyes (female) in front moderate ; 
occiput black. Antenne more than three fourths the length 
of the body, slightly thickened and serrate towards the tips, 
joints three to five lmear ; colour pitchy testaceous, basal joints 
beneath paler. Thorax elongate cylindrical, disk with four 
tubercles and a median raised wheal, rest of surface ocellate- 
punctate, black above, central line and sides fulvous. Hlytra 
elongate-linear and plane, leaving the pygidium uncovered, 
not dehiscent; apex truncate and tumid on the surface where 
lies the pale transverse spot; the surface rather finely and 
closely rugose-punctate, with soft, inclined, and curly pubes- 
cense ; colour brown, suture paler. Body beneath dark brown, 
with golden pubescence; abdominal segments ringed with 
yellow. Legs tawny testaceous, base of thighs blackish ; 
hind legs moderately elongated, thighs rather abruptly clavate. 


31. Ommata egrota, Bates. 
Odontocera egrota, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1872, p. 233. 


Chontales, Nicaragua. 

I described this species as an Odontocera, following Lacor- 
daire’s definition of the genus; but the closely punctured and 
non-vitreous elytra bring it within the genus Ommata, ac- 
cording to the classification here adopted. 


32. Ommata Xantho, n. sp. 


O. robustior, pallide flava; capite, elytris, tibiis, tarsis femoribusque 
supra nigris, fronte flava; antennis filiformibus, nigris, articulis 
6°-10"™ basi pallidis ; thorace lateribus paulo rotundatis, margine 
antico crasso, reticulato-punctato opaco ; elytris subintegris re- 
ticulato-punctatis, apice oblique truncatis angulo exteriore longe 
spinoso ; metasterno late nigro-fasciato ; pedibus robustis, femori- 
bus elongato-clavatis. Long. 4} lin. ¢. 


Prov. Parand, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders). 

A robust species, with hind legs not disproportionately elon- 
gated, and filiform antenne, of which the third to fifth joints 
are linear. 

33. Ommata pecila, n. sp. 


O. linearis, pallide flava, thoracis macula dorsali, elytrorum macula 
2% 


36 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


quadrata humerali, fascia mediana alteraque apicali nigris; an- 
tennis elongatis, apice gradatim incrassatis, nigris, flavo annulatis ; 
thorace cylindrico, convexo, crebre reticulato-punctato ; elytris 
vix abbreviatis, basi excepta angustatis parallelis, apice oblique 
truncatis, dense reticulato-punctatis. Long. 43 lin. ¢. 


Prov. Parand, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. 
Bates). 

Linear, thorax and elytra closely covered with round punc- 
tures forming narrow reticulated interstices. Clear pale yellow, 
with an irregular spot on the disk of the thorax, a belt across 
the middle and apex of the elytra, and a square spot on the 
shoulder black. ‘The antennz (male) are nearly as long as 
the body and considerably thickened towards the apex, the 
third to fifth joints are linear; the colour is black, with the 
base of fourth to tenth joints and first to fourth joints beneath 
pale testaceous. Beneath there is a broad stripe on each 
side of the metasternum and across the abdomen, black. The 
legs have a streak on the upperside of the femoral clave, the 
apex of the tibize and the tarsi black ; the hind legs are not elon- 
gated ; all the femora are clavate, the anterior and middle pair 
more abruptly so than the posterior. The elytra are moderately 
narrowed from a little behind the base, and are thence parallel 
to the apex; they are not dehiscent at the suture; and the ex- 
ternal angle of the apical truncature has a longish spine. 

A variety occurs in which the middle and apical black fascize 
of the elytra and the humeral spots are united, and the head 
and whole apical half of the abdomen is black. 


34. Ommata fenestrata, Lucas. 
Oregostoma fenestratum, Lucas, Voyage de Castelnau, Ins. pl. 12. f. 8. 


Interior of Brazil. 


Ill. Legs robust ; middle femora abruptly and very thickly clavate ; 
first joint of lund tarsi greatly elongated ; elytra entire. (Agaone, 
Pascoe). 

35. Ommata notabilis, White. 


Rhinotragus notabilis, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 199. 
R. Amazons. 
Genus ODONTOCERA, Serv. 


Serv. Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1835, p. 546; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. 
p. 503. 

I have nothing to add to the definition of this genus given 
by Lacordaire, except that I think it better to exclude every 
species which has not a vitreous surface to the elytra. This 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 37 


character, added to the enlarged metasternum, slender abdo- 
men (often constricted at the base), subcylindrical or oval tho- 
rax, and elytra never much abbreviated or subulate, will di- 
stinguish Odontocera from all the allied genera. The antennz 
vary in thickness and length; in most species they are short, 
thick, and strongly serrated from the sixth or fifth joint; but 
many have very slender, filiform antenne. Some of these I 
formerly placed in the genus Agaone, notwithstanding the 
slender or constricted abdomen; but this course is the less 
admissible, as the type of the genus Odontocera (O. vitrea of 
Serville) is described as having slender antenne. 


I. Antenne elongate, slender. 


1. Odontocera molorchoides, White. 
Rhinotragus molorchoides, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit, Mus. p. 200. 


R. Amazons. 


2. Odontocera vittipennis, n. sp. 

O. nigra, cano pubescens; thorace oblongo-ovato, rufo-aurantiaco, 
reticulato-punctato, opaco; elytris nigris, vitta albo-testacea, 
vitrea; tarsis posticis albis; antennis elongatis gracilibus, articu- 
lis a sexto leviter serratis basi flavo-testaceis. Long. 4 lin. ¢. 


Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders). 

Head black, clothed with hoary pile; muzzle elongated ; 
eyes (male) nearly touching the median line in front. Antenne 
as long as the body, black ; joints sixth to eleventh yellow at 
base, third to sixth linear, seventh to tenth elongate, moderately 
dilated and serrate at their apices. Thorax rather broader 
than the elytra, subovate, the sides being much rounded near 
the middle; the surface is opaque, covered with shallow round 
pits, and with the flanks light red. The elytra nearly reach 
the apex of the penultimate segment; they are subparallel 
from the middle, with tips obliquely and sharply truncated ; 
their surface is very closely and coarsely punctured and deep 
black, except a narrow well-defined central vitta from the base 
to near the apex, which is whitish, faintly punctured, and 
shining. The legs are black, with the exception of the hind 
tarsi, which are white, and have their basal joint longer than 
the remaining three together, but not slender; the middle 
femora are abruptly and very broadly clavate; the hind legs 
greatly elongated, and their femora very gradually and mode- 
rately thickened. ‘The under surface of the body is densely 
clothed with short hoary pile; the abdomen is moderately 
slender, and the anterior coxe scarcely exserted. 


38 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


8. Odontocera clara, n. sp. 


O. valde elongata, nigra; thorace aurantiaco-flavo, pectore abdo- 
mineque cinereo-tomentosis; elytris disco omnino vitreo albo- 
testaceo. Long. 54-73 lin. ¢ 9. 

Chontales, Nicaragua (coll. T. Belt and H. W. Bates). 

An elongate narrow species, similar in form to O. chrysostetha, 
but resembling O. vittipennis in colours. Head black, shining, 
scabrous-punctate; muzzle elongate and narrow. Antenne 
long and filiform, moderately serrate from the sixth joint, 
shining black; extreme base of joints 7 to 11 pallid, 
especially in the male. Thorax long, cylindrical, gradually 
narrowed in front, orange-testaceous, moderately shining, 
closely subreticulate-punctate, with a short, smooth, raised 
dorsal line on the fore part of the disk. Elytra reaching to 
the middle of the fourth segment, moderately narrowed behind 
the base, thence parallel to the apex, which is sharply truncate, 
with the angles prominent ; surface pallid brownish and glassy, 
faintly punctulate ; margins (except the basal) narrowly black 
and coarsely punctured. Meso- and metasterna and abdomen 
black, clothed with a laid ashy pile; metasternum moderately 
voluminous, and abdomen linear, coarsely punctured. Legs 
much elongated, black, shining; all the femora rather gradually 
clavate ; hind pair reaching the tip of the abdomen. 

This is one of the latest discoveries of Mr. Thomas Belt. 


4. Odontocera colon, Bates. 
Agaone colon, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 319. 


R. Amazons. 


5. Odontocera monostigma, Bates. 
Agaone monostigma, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1869, p. 384. 


Chontales, Nicaragua. 


6. Odontocera parallela, White. 
Odontocera parallela, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 189. 


R. Amazons. 

7. Odontocera mellea, White. 
Odontocera mellea, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 188. 
R. Amazons. 


8. Odontocera chrysostetha, Bates. 
Odontocera chrysostetha, Bates, Trans, Ent, Soc. 1870, p. 320. 
R. Amazons. 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 39 


9. Odontocera vitrea, Serville. 
Odontocera vitrea, a Ann, Ent. Soc, Fr. 18338, p. 547. 


Cayenne. 

Serville describes the antenne in his Odontocere as “ filifor- 
mes, presque setacées, 5 ou 6 articles en scie.’”’ His species 
would therefore come in the present section. 


10. Odontocera cylindrica, Serv. l.c. p. 548. 


Brazil. 
It is not stated in the description that the elytra have vitre- 
ous disks; the position of the species is therefore doubtful. 


II. Antenne more or less abbreviated and dilated. 
A. Thorax narrow, cylindrical. 
a. Disk of thorax even. 


* Antenne much thickened towards the apex. 


11. Odontocera crocata, n. sp. 


O. gracillima, postice attenuata, fusco-niger; antennis, pedibus et 
elytris fulvo-croceis, his marginibus et apice late nigris, valde ab- 
breviatis, apice late truncatis. Long. 33 lin. ¢. 


Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro (coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. 
Bates). 

Head coarsely punctured; eyes voluminous, contiguous in 
front; muzzle moderate, narrow. Antenne two thirds the 
length of the body, thickened towards the tip, saffron tawny ; 
third to fifth joints slender, linear, seventh to tenth serrate. 
Thorax very narrow, cylindrical, with longitudinal patches of 
shallow circular punctures, the patches connected by transverse 
wrinkles. Elytra just passing the base of the antepenultimate 
segment, moderately narrowed from after the base, dehiscent 
at the suture, sharply and broadly truncated at the apex; sur- 
face moderately punctured, very sparsely so on the disk, which 
is shining. Body beneath rufous tawny; thorax, sides of 
breast, and belt across middle of abdomen black. Legs saffron 
tawny ; hind pairelongated; thighs distinctly clavate. Meta- 
sternum (male) voluminous; abdomen slender, linear. 


** Antenne robust, all joints thickened. 


12. Odontocera sanguinolenta (Dej.), n. sp. 


O. elongata, robusta, sanguinea; capite, antennis, vitta thoracis lata 
dorsali pedibusque nigris; femoribus posticis annulo sanguineo; 


40 | Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


elytris fere apicem abdominis attingentibus, angustis, testaceo- 
flavis, vitreis, marginibus nigris, apice macula oblonga lete flava. 


Long. 7-8 lin. ¢ @. 


Rio Janeiro (coll. W. W. Saunders, Dr. Baden, and H. W. 
Bates). . 

An elongated and narrow but robust form. Head black, 
coarsely punctured. Antenne about half the length of the 
body, stout, of equal thickness to the apex, third to fifth 
joints being much dilated, and the following serrated, dull 
black. Thorax elongated, cylindrical, closely punctured, sides 
broadly blood-red, the rest dull black. Scutellum white. 
Elytra reaching nearly the tip of the body, narrow, and nearly 
parallel from after the base; apex sharply truncated, with 
angles somewhat produced; surface shining, black, with a 
central vitta straw-colour and vitreous, the black borders 
coarsely punctured; an elongate spot brighter yellow at apex. 
Breast and abdomen sanguineous, the former black in the 
middle, the latter with margins of the segments black. Legs 
robust, black; hind femora with a blood-red ring, and gradu- 
ally clavate. 

13. Odontocera apicalis, Klug. 
oe apicalis, Klug, Entom. Bras. Specim. alter. p. 54, t. xliv. 


Brazil. 
Apparently allied to O. sanguinolenta. 


aa. Disk of thorax tuberculated. 


14. Odontocera gracilis, Klug. 
Stenopterus gracilis, Klug, Entom. Bras. Spec. alt. p. 54, t. xliv. f. 7. 
St. elegans, Guérin-Méney. Icon. R. A. pl. 44. f. 9. 
Brazil. 
It has been suggested that this species should be excluded 
from the genus Odontocera, on account of its tubercled thorax, 
‘the great length of the peduncle of the hind femora, and other 
characters. Its peculiar facies and metallic colouring ill consort 
with the other congeners; but all its essential structural cha- 
racters are shared in by one or other members of the genus. 
For instance, the tuberculated thorax is possessed in still 
higher development by O. flavicauda, which has nothing ab- 
normal in its colouring, and quite moderately clavate and pe- 
dunculate hind femora. 


15. Odontocera flavicauda, n. sp. 
O. elongata, linearis, castaneo-rufa; capite, antennis basi pedibus- 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 41 


que nigris ; elytris pallide brunneis, vitreis, marginibus anguste 
nigris, apice flavis. Long. 5-6lin. ¢ 2. © 


Prov. Paranda, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. 
Bates). 

Elongate and narrow in form. Head coarsely punctured. 
Antenne rather more than half the length of the body, not 
thickened, regularly serrate from the sixth joint; fifth also a 
little dilated at the apex; basal half black, apical half cas- 
taneous. Thorax rather short, cylindrical; surface with four 
tubercles and a central raised line; interstices with large, 
circular, scattered punctures. Elytra reaching nearly the 
base of the pygidium, moderately narrow and subparallel 
from a little beyond the base ; apex broadly sinuate-truncate ; 
surface glassy, although finely and sparsely punctured and 
setose; margins coarsely rugose-punctate and black; disk 
pale brown (palest near the base); apex with a longish yel- 
low spot. Beneath shining chestnut-red; thorax blackish ; 
Legs black; hind pair much elongated; thighs abruptly 
clavate. Abdomen of male slender and linear, of female sub- 
petiolated. 


AA. Thorax subovate. 


a. Hind legs elongate, slender ; femora abruptly clavate. 


16. Odontocera nigriclavis, n. sp. 


O. elongata, nigra; pedibus posticis (clava femorali scapoque tibiali 
nigris exceptis) et tarsis omnibus flavo-testaceis; vitta discoidali 
elytrorum albo-testacea, vitrea. Long. 5-6 lin. ¢ Q. 


Prov. Rio Janeiro and Parana, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders, 
Dr. Baden, and H. W. Bates). 

Closely allied to O. dispar (Bates), but having longer elytra, 
yellow tarsi, and female concolorous with the male, &c. Head 
with elongated muzzle. Antenne half the length of the body, 
thickened from the fifth joint; black, bases of the joints testa- 
ceous tawny. ‘Thorax elongate, gradually narrowed behind ; 
surface longitudinally impressed, clothed with long hairs, and 
closely reticulate-punctate. Hlytra reaching to middle of the 
third segment, nearly parallel from after the base, truncate 
at the apex, thickly punctured and black on the borders ; 
disk oceupied by a whitish vitreous vitta. Legs black; tarsi 
testaceous yellow ; the hind legs moderately elongated ; femora 
abruptly clavate; tibie with a dense brush of black hairs 
round the apical half; base of thighs and of tibiz testaceous 
yellow. 


42 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


17. Odontocera pecilopoda, White. 
Odontocera pecilopoda, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 191. 
Amazons. 
18. Odontocera dispar, Bates. 
Odontocera dispar, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 321. 


Amazons. 


19. Odontocera aurocincta, n. sp. 


O. valde elongata, nigra; antennis, tibiis et tarsis fulvis; femoribus 
basi et tibiis posticis dimidio basali albo-testaceis ; thorace breviter 
cylindrico-ovato, grosse punctato, tomento aureo marginato; elytris 
modice abbreviatis, angustis, apice obtuse truncatis, fulyo-testaceis, 
vitreis. Long. 7 lin. 9. 


Tehuantepec, Mexico (coll. H. W. Bates). 

Closely allied to O. nigriclavis, but destitute of brush on 
the hind femora. Head coarsely punctured, black. The an- 
tenne are tawny, moderately short, thickened towards the 
tips, serrate from the sixth joint. The elytra reach nearly to the 
middle of the third segment, and are much narrowed but not 
subuliform, being little dehiscent at the suture and truncated 
at the tip; they are unicolorous pale tawny brown, with the 
exception of a narrow blackish line along the anterior part of 
the suture and of the lateral margins. ‘‘The underside of the 
body is closely punctured ; it is black, becoming castaneous on 
the abdomen, the two basal segments of which have a broad 
pale testaceous belt. ‘The hind legs are moderately elongated, 
and the femora somewhat strongly clavate. The metasternum 
is voluminous, and the abdomen very elongate and slender 
towards the base. 


20. Odontocera leucothea, n. sp. 


O. albicanti (Klug) simillima; differt elytrorum margine suturali late 
incurvo, maculaque triangulari circumscutellari nigra. Long. 7— 
Yin, oO: 


Novo Friburg (Rio Janeiro); Minas Geraes and Paranéd. 
(coll. W. W. Saunders, Dr. Baden, and H. W. Bates). 

Deceptively similar to O. albicans, Klug (Entom. Bras. 
t. xliv. f. 5); colours the same, except a broad, triangular, 
black spot in the scutellar region. The silvery pile of the 
thorax, however, is concentrated in rounded spots, of which 
there are four (in quadrangle) on the disk, and others more 
irregular on the flanks ; and there are slight differences in the 
distribution of colours on the antenne and legs. The white 
ring of the antenne in 0. albicans embraces joints seventh to 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 43 


ninth; in O. leucothea joints sixth, seventh, and the apical half 
of the fifth. In the anterior legs the femora are chestnut-red, and 
the tibiae and tarsi festaceous yellow (in O. albicans these 
colours are exactly reversed) ; the middle tibize and base of the 
femora are testaceous yellow. Notwithstanding this close 
general similarity, it is likely the two insects belong to diffe- 
rent genera, the antenne (according to Klug’s figure) appear- 
ing to be simple, like the typical Ommate, and the elytra 
parallel. In O. leucothea the antenne are serrate from the 
fifth joint, and the sutural margin of the elytra is strongly in- 
curved from before the middle. The disk of the elytra is 
vitreous. ‘The abdomen is red, and in the female vespiform. 
I have seen four examples, all females, and exactly similar. 


21. Odontocera? albicans, Klug. 
Stenopterus albicans, Klug, Entom. Bras. Specim. alter. p. 53, t. xliv. 
f. 5. 


Rio Janeiro. 


aa. Hind femora gradually thickened. 


22. Odontocera hilaris, n. sp. 
O. nigra, thorace supra aurantiaco-rufo, elytrorum disco femoribus- 
que posticis basi flavo-testaceis. Long. 43 lin. 9. 
Odontocera punctata, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 323 (nec Klug). 


R. Tapajos, Amazons (coll. H. W. Bates). 

Short and rather robust. Head with broad and not very 
elongate muzzle; the eyes in the unique specimen approach 
tolerably near to the median line in front, and seem to show it 
to be a male; but the short and broad sessile abdomen is that 
of a female. The antenne are short, thickened and serrated 
from the fifth joint. The thorax is strongly rounded on the 
sides and constricted at the base, the surface closely reticulate- 
punctate. The elytra reach nearly to the middle of the third 
segment, with the suture dehiscent only from the middle, rapidly 
narrowed but truncated at the apex; the margins are narrowly 
deep black, leaving the whole disk pallid and vitreous, with- 
out visible punctures, except at the base. ‘The hind legs are 
greatly elongated, the femora very gradually clavate, the tarsi 
short and slender. 

Thad erroneously referred this species to O. punctata (Klug), 
with which it agrees in colour and general form ; but O. punc- 
tata (of which I have now an example before me) has longer 
elytra, with their vitreous disks covered with strong dark 
punctures. The eyes in the female approach the median 


44. On the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 


frontal line as closely as in O. hilarts; but the hind legs are 
short and wholly black. 


23. Odontocera punctata. 
Stenopterus punctatus, Klug, Entom. Bras. Spec. alt. p. 53, t. xliv. f. 4. 


Bahia (coll, Dr. Baden). 

Klug gives the locality as “ Pard interior,” which is pro- 
bably an error. 

24, Odontocera ornaticollis, 

Odontocera ornaticollis, Bates, Trans, Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 323. 

Tapajos, Amazons. 

The abdomen in the male is very elongate, slender at the 
base, and slightly thickened and curved downwards at the 
tip. 

25. Odontocera petiolata, n. sp. 

O. elongata, fusco-nigra, pedibus fulvo-testaceis ; elytris elongatis 
modice subulifurmibus, apice subacute rotundatis, flavo-testaceis, 
vitreis, marginibus anguste rufo-castaneis, fasciaque curvata pone 
scutellum et vittula humerali nigris; abdomine utriusque sexus 
valde petiolato. Long. 4-7 lin. ¢ Q. 


Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro (coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. 
Bates). 

Head above and down the middle of the forehead black, the 
rest tawny testaceous ; eyes in male not touching the median 
line of forehead, in female a little more distant. Antenne 
short and stout, black; apex tawny. ‘Thorax ovate, much 
narrowed behind and convex in front, densely pubescent, 
coarsely and closely punctured. lHlytra reaching nearly to the 
apex of the penultimate segment, subulate, but not very nar- 
row, parallel from after the base, obtusely pointed at the apex ; 
the vitreous yellowish disk has a few very fine setiferous 
punctures; a black fascia curves near the base behind the 
scutellum, and joins on each side a short streak on the top of 
the shoulder; the margins elsewhere are narrowly castaneous. 
The legs are moderately stout; the hind thighs not clavate 
but gradually and moderately thickened. The petiolated 
basal segment of the abdomen is partly yellow; the very convex 
metasternum and margins of the ventral segments are clothed 


with golden pile. 
26. Odontocera fasciata, Newm. 
Necydalis fasciata, Oliv. Ent. no. 74, p. 10, pl. i. f. 9. 
Odontocera chrysozone, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 192, pl. v. f. 4. 
R. Amazons. 
The abdomen is strongly vespitorm, as in the two preceding 
species. 


On the Evolution of Structure in Seedlings. 45 


27. ? Odontocera Dice, Newm. 
? Odontocera Dice, Newm. Entom. p. 91. 
Rio Janeiro. 


aaa. Hind legs short and stout ; femora thickly clavate. 


28. Odontocera triliturata, Bates. 
Odontocera triliturata, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 324. 
Rk. Amazons. 


29. Odontocera compressipes, White. 

Odontocera compressipes, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 191. 

R. Amazons. 

In this species the hind tibie are much dilated exteriorly 
near the apex and tufted with hairs, evidently an adaptation— 
the result, combined with colour and shape, being a close imi- 
tation of a common yellow species of Melipona bee. 


30. Odontocera furcifera, Bates. 
Odontocera furcifera, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 328. 


R. Tapajos, Amazons. 
In this species the elytra are of the same form as in the 
typical Acyphoderes, 7. e. subulate and pointed at the apex. 


31. Odontocera simplex, White. 
Odontocera simplex, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 325. 
R. Amazons. 


32. Odontocera bisulcata, Bates. 
Odontocera bisulcata, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 326. 
R. Tapajos, Amazons. 


[To be continued. | 


VI.—Growth or Evolution of Structure in Seedlings. 
By Joun C. Draper, M.D.* 


THE continuous absorption of oxygen and formation of car- 
bonic acid is an essential condition of evolution of structure, 
both in plants and in animals. 

The above proposition, so far as it relates to animals, will 
probably be admitted by all; the opposite opinion, however, is 


* From the‘ American Journal of Science and Arts,’ vol. iv. November 
1872. 


46 Dr. J. C. Draper on Growth or 


commonly held as regards plants. Yet we propose to show that 
in these organisms, as in animals, growth, as applied to evolu- 
tion of structure or organization of material provided, is inse- 
parably connected with oxidation. 

The discussion of the proposition in question necessarily 
involves a preliminary review of the character of the gases ex- 
haled from various plants. Commencing with the lower orga- 
nisms, as Fungi, the uniform testimony is that these plants at 
all times expire carbonic acid, while it is chiefly in the higher 
plants, and especially in those which contain chlorophyl or 
green colouring-matter, that carbonic acid is absorbed and oxy- 
genexhaled. The inquiry, then, in reality narrows itself down 
to the examination of the growth of chlorophyl-bearing plants. 

Regarding these plants the statement is made and received 
that they change their action according as they are examined 
in the light or in the dark, exhaling oxygen under the first con- 
dition, and carbonic acid under the second. Various explana- 
tions of this change of action have been given, that generally 
accepted accounting for it on the hypothesis of the absorption 
of carbonic acid by the roots, and its exhalation by the leaves 
when light is no longer present. 

The change, on the contrary, appears to arise out of the 
fact that two essentially different operations have been con- 
founded, viz. the actual growth or evolution of structures in the 
plant, and the decomposition of carbonic acid by the leaves 
under the influence of the light, to provide the gum or other 
materials that are to be organized. These two factors are 
separated by Prof. J. W. Draper in his discussion of the con- 
ditions of growth in plants. We propose to show that, by 
adopting this proposition of two distinct operations in the higher 
plants, all the apparent discrepancies regarding the growth of 
these plants are explained. 

The growth of seedlings in the dark offering conditions in 
which the act of growth or evolution of structure is accom- 
plished without the collateral decomposition of carbonic acid, 
I arranged two series of experiments in which growth under 
this condition might be studied and compared with a similar 
growth in the light. That the experiments might continue 
over a sufficient period of time to furnish reliable comparative 
results, I selected peas as the subject of trial, since these seeds 
contain sufficient material to support the growth of seedlings 
for a couple of weeks. 

To secure as far as possible uniformity of conditions between 
the dark and light series, and also to facilitate the separation, 
cleansing, and weighing of the roots, each pea was planted in a 
glass cylinder, 1 inch in diameter and 6 inches long. These 


Evolution of Structure in Seedlings. 47 


cylinders were loosely closed below by a cork, and filled to 
within half an inch of the top with fine earth or vegetable 
mould. They were then placed erect in a covered tin box or 
tube-stand, in such a manner that the lower end dipped into 
water contained in the box, while the whole of the cylinder 
except the top was kept in the dark. Thus the first condition 
for germination, viz. darkness, was secured; the second, warmth, 
was supplied by the external temperature, which varied from 
70° to 80° F.; while regularity and uniformity in the supply of 
moisture in both series was secured by having a box of cylin- 
ders or tubes for each and keeping the level of the water the 
same in both. The supply of oxygen was also equal and 
uniform, since the upper part of each tube presented a similar 
opening to the air. 

Thus prepared, one box, containing five cylinders, was kept 
in a dark closet, while a second, similar in all respects, was 
placed in a window of the adjoining room, where it was ex- 
posed to direct sunlight five or six hours every day. To each 
tube a light wooden rod thirty inches in length was attached ; 
and on this the growth of the seedling was marked every 
twelve hours. The hours selected were 7 A.M. and7 P.M. I 
thus obtained the night and day, or dark and light growth of 
every seedling, as long as those in the dark grew. The seeds 
were planted on June Ist, and appeared above the ground on 
June 6th, when the measurements were commenced. In each 
series one seed failed to germinate; the record consequently is 
for four plants in each. The history of the evolution of 
structures is as follows :— 

Evolution of structure in the dark.—In Table I. the seeds are 
designated as A, B, C, D; and each column shows the dates on 
which leaves and lateral growths appeared. These constitute 
periods in the development of the plants, which are indicated 
by the numbers 1, 2, 8, 4, 5, 6. The weight of each seed is 
given in milligrammes. 


TABLE I.—Seedlings grown in the dark. 


A. B. C. D. 
Weight of seed.... 431. 436. 456. 500. 
Boenadliy: st... 7th day. 7thday. 7thday. ‘7th day. 
ee eae Sth -,, 9th ,, 9th ,, Sth. 
ys eee LOth, san elOthe ,-— «Lith. ..,,3;-), LO 
=, a Tee DAE ee eee sts |, LOUL gy) ) Pbeniees 
aa. 14th | -otbth + 1sthy or iat 
Ah ee 17th, ,,., 28th; 18th, ae Lites 


A glance at the above shows the uniformity as regards 


48 Dr. J. C. Draper on Growth or 


time with which the structures were evolved in each plant. 
It also indicates for each plant an equality in the number of 
periods of evolution, viz. 6, notwithstanding the difference in 
the weights of the seeds, and suggests that the power of 
evolution of structure in seedlings resides in the germ alone. 

The character of the evolution in the six periods shows a 
steady improvement or progression. 

In the first, the growth consists of the formation close to the ° 
stem of two partially developed pale yellow leaves. 

The second period is similar to the first, except that the 
leaves are a little larger. 

The third presents a pair of small yellow leaves close to the 
main stem, from between which a lateral stem or twig about 
one inch long projects, and bears at its extremity a second pair 
of imperfectly developed yellow leaves, from between which a 
small tendril about a sixteenth of.an inch long is given off. 

The fourth resembles the third, the lateral twig being longer, 
and the tendril three times as long as in the third. ; 

The fifth is like the fourth, except that the tendril bifurcates. 

The sixth is similar to the fifth, except that the tendril 
trifurcates. 

Stem, leaves, twigs, tendrils of various degrees of complexity, 
all are evolved by the force preexisting in the germ without 
the assistance of light. 

Evolution of structure in the light.— 


TABLE [].—Seedlings grown in the light. 


EK. F. G. HY 
Weight of seed.... 288. 426. 462. 544, 
Period Fs a... ey 6th day... 6th day. 
Rang Paton ta 7th day. ‘7th ,, i das,” 7G oes 
“ake en are Sth ,, 8th ,, 8th ,, 9th ,, 
A ie eee 12th ,, Oth, +;° LCth *,) °°) LO 2, 
i eae Roars 16th; Lith. ,,’» “these aS 
eee aS 13th ,, “2 14th ,, 


Table II. was obtained in the same manner as Table I., the 
columns representing the days on which lateral growths and 
leaves appeared. ‘Though there is not the same uniformity as 
in Table I., the periods are identical in both as regards the 
visible character of the evolution. Nothing appears in the 
second that did not preexist in the first ; and in the case of the 
seeds EK and G the evolution is even deficient as regards the 
first and the sixth periods. 

While the general character of the evolution in both series 
is similar, certain minor differences exist. In Table II. the 


Evolution of Structure in Seedlings. 49 


leaves and tendrils are many times larger than in Table I., 
and they with the whole plant are of a bright green colour, 
instead of the sickly’pale yellow of Table I.: but the light has 
not developed any new structure; it has only perfected those 
which preexisted, and converted other substances into chloro- 
phyl, which is not an organized body. 

Not only did the plants in the two series present similarities 
in evolution of structure, but the average weight of dry plant 
in each was very nearly the same; for 


mer. mer. 
455 of seeds in the dark produced 184 of dry plant, 
while 455 rs sight). 24) 205 3 ‘ 


A comparison of the parts below the ground with those 
above (both being dried at 212° F.) shows that the proportion 
of root to total weight of plant was also nearly identical, 
being 

° 95 of root for 100 of plant in the dark, and 
23 9 100 3 light. 


The close similarity in the evolution of visible structure in 
the light and in the dark, the small difference in the total 
weights of the plants grown in the same time in both series, 
and the close approximation in the proportional weight of root 
to plant, all justify the conclusion that the growth in darkness 
and in light closely resemble each other, and that it is proper 
to reason, as regards the nature of the action, from the first to 
the second. ; 

Another interesting fact which lends support to the opinion 
that the process of growth in seedlings developed in the dark 
is very similar to that occurring in those grown in the light, is 
the character of the excrements thrown out by the roots. It is 
well known that many plants so poison the soil that the same 
plants cannot be made to grow therein until the poisonous 
excretions from the roots of the first crop have been destroyed 
by oxidation. In the case of peas this poisoning of the soil 
takes place ina very marked manner; and [ have found that in 
the pots in which peas have been grown in the dark, the soil is 
so poisoned by the excrements from the roots that a second 
crop fails to sprout. Does it not follow that since, in the two 
series with which I experimented, the excrements from the 
roots possessed the same poisoning action, the processes in the 
plants from which these excrements arose must have been 
similar ? 

There remains an important argument, concerning which 
nothing has thus far been said. It is to be derived from the 
consideration of the rate of growth in the light series during 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 


50 Dr. J.C. Draper on Growth or 


various periods of the day of twenty-four hours. If the evolu- 
tion of structure in a plant in daylight is the result of the 
action of light, that evolution should occur entirely, or almost 
entirely, during the day. If, on the contrary, it is independent 
of the light, it should go on at a uniform rate as in plants in 
the dark. 

For the elucidation of this portion of the subject, I present 
the following tables; the first of which shows the growth by 
night, 7 P.M. to 7 A.M., of the seedlings in the dark series, com- 
pared with their growth by day, 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. ‘The mea- 
surements were taken from the sixth to the twentieth of the 
month, the day on which growth ceased in the dark series. 


TABLE ITI.—Seedlings grown in the dark. 


Night growth. Day growth. 
CR i 122 inches. 14 inches. 
a AN a (hy eee Les 
BF Lele bes 112 11 : = 
” nt apa a 1 22 ” 11 S99 


Average.. 128 ,, Average.. 123 ,, 


The total day growth and night growth under these cireum- 
stances are nearly equal, though there is a slight excess in 
favour of the night, amounting, as the table shows, to 2 of an 
inch in 12 inches. 

In Table IY. the growth of the light series is given in the 
same manner, by day and by night, for the same time, viz. to 
June 20th. The thermometric and hygrometric conditions in 
both series were very similar, as indicated by the dry- and 
wet-bulb thermometers suspended in the vicinity of each set 
of tubes. 


TABLE IV.—Seedlings grown in the light. 


Night growth. Day growth. 

ORG. wn 33 inches. 4 inches. 
a oe ‘SA Pheer ie. 
Ny eee By’ xs At» 
44 Aes OR roe ah me 
Average.. 63 ,, Average... 6 ,, 


In the average, and throughout the table, with a single ex- 
ception, not only is the uniformity in the rate of growth during 
the day and night shown, but the slight excess of night growth 
found in the series kept in the dark is likewise copied. We 
must therefore accept the conclusion, that the act of growth or 


Evolution of Structure in Seedlings. 51 


evolution of structure is independent of light, and that the 
manner of growth,during the day is similar to that at night. 

It will be noticed that the total average height attained in 
the light is only about half that in the dark series. The ex- 
planation of this we have already seen in the fact that in the 
former the leaves and tendrils were much larger than in the 
latter, while the dry weights were nearly the same. The 
material of the seed in the light series was consumed in ex- 
tending these surfaces, while in the dark series it was spent in 
lengthening the stem. 

Having established the continuous character of growth in 
seedlings, and the similarity of rate and nature of the process 
by night and by day, and admitting that night plants throw 
off carbonic acid, it is not improbable that this carbonic acid 
arises, not from mechanical absorption by the roots and vapori- 
zation by the leaves, but as a direct result or concomitant of 
the act or process of evolution of structure. 

To put the matter in the clearest form, let us first under- 
stand what growth is. It appears in all cases to consist in the 
evolution or production of cells from those already existing. 
According as the circumstances under which the cells are pro- 
duced vary, so does the tissue ultimately produced vary ; cells 
formed in woody fibre become wood; cells formed in muscle 
in their turn form muscles ; but the starting-point of the process 
in every instance is the formation of new cells. 

If, now, we examine the evolution of cells under the simplest 
conditions, as, for example, in the fermentation that attends the 
manufacture of alcohol, we find that with the evolution of the 
Torula-cells carbonic acid is produced. The two results are 
intimately connected ; and it is proper to suppose that since the 
carbonic acid has arisen along with the new cells, the latter 
operation must in some way involve a process of oxidation. 
Accepting the hypothesis that oxidation is attendant on these 
processes of cell- growth under the simplest conditions, we pass 
to the examination of what occurs in the lower forms of veget- 
able organisms found in the air. 

The fungi, and, indeed, all plants that are not green, with a 
few exceptions, exhale carbonic acid and never exhale oxygen. 
In this case, in which cell-production often occurs with such 
marvellous rapidity, the carbonic acid must have arisen as a 
consequent of the cell-growth. It is improbable that it has 
been absorbed by roots and exhaled from the structures, either 
in these plants or in those produced during fermentation. In 
the latter there never are any roots; and in the former, even 
where roots are present, they bear a small proportion to the 
whole plant. The quantity of moisture exhaled by such 

4® 


52 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 


growths is also insignificant, and out of proportion to the car- 
bonic acid evolved. We must therefore in this case decline 
to accept the root-absorption hypothesis, and admit that the 
carbonic acid has arisen as a result of the cell-growth in the 
lant. 

‘ Passing to the chlorophyl-bearing plants, we find that in the 
Phanerogamia it is only the green parts that at any time exhale 
oxygen, and then only under the influence of sunshine. The 
other parts of the plant above the ground that are not green, 
viz. the stem, twigs, flowers, &c., are at all times, day and 
night, exhaling carbonic acid. "The whole history of the plant, 
from the time the seed is planted till its death, is a continuous 
story of oxidation, except when sunlight is falling on the leaves. 
The seed is put into the ground; and during germination oxygen 
is absorbed and carbonic acid exhaled. If the seedling is kept 
in the dark, oxygen is never exhaled, only carbonic acid, and 
the plant not only grows, but all visible structures, except 
flowers, are formed in a rudimentary condition. In the light, 
the growth during the night time is attended by the evolution 
of carbonic acid, while during the daytime the bark of the stem 
and branches is throwing off carbonic acid. When flowers 
and seeds form, the evolution of carbonic acid attending this 
highest act of which the plant is capable is often greater than 
that produced at any time in many animals. 

Every thing in the history of plants therefore tends to show 
that the evolution of their structures is inseparably attended 
by the formation of carbonic acid; and it seems impossible, 
when we consider the evolution alone, to arrive at any other 
opinion than that already expressed—that all living things, 
whether plant or animal, absorb oxygen and evolve carbonic 
acid, or some other oxidized substance, as an essential condition 
of the evolution of their structures. 


College of the City of New York, 
Sept. 12th, 1872. 


VII.—Sequoia and its History. By Professor ASA Gray, 
President of the American Association for the Advancement 
of Science*. 


THE session being now happily inaugurated, your presiding 
officer of the last year has only one duty to perform before he 
surrenders his chair to his successor. If allowed to borrow a 
simile from the language of my own profession, I might liken 


* An address delivered at the meeting held at Dubuque, lowa, August 
1872. 


Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 53 


the President of this association to a biennial plant. He 
flourishes for the year in which he comes into existence, and 
performs his hae Ree functions as presiding officer; when 
the second year comes round, he is expected to blossom out 
in an address and disappear. Hach president, as he retires, is 
naturally expected to contribute something from his own in- 
vestigations or his own line of study, usually to discuss 
some particular scientific topic. 

Now, although I have cultivated the field of North-American 
botany with some assiduity for more than forty years, have 
reviewed our vegetable hosts, and assigned to no small number 
of them their names and their place in the ranks, yet, so far as 
our own wide country is concerned, I have been to a great 
extent a closet botanist. Until this summer I had not seen 
the Mississippi, nor set foot upon a prairie. 

To gratify a natural interest, and to gain some title for ad- 
dressing a body of practical naturalists and explorers, I have 
made a pilgrimage across the continent. I have sought and 
viewed in their native haunts many a plant and flower which 
for me had long bloomed unseen, or only in the hortus siccus. 
I have been able to see for myself what species and what forms 
constitute the main features of the vegetation of each succes- 
sive region, and record (as the vegetation unerringly does) the 
permanent characteristics of its climate. 

Passing on from the eastern district, marked by its equably 
distributed rainfall, and therefore naturally forest-clad, | have 
seen the trees diminish in number, give place to wide prairies, 
restrict their growth to the borders of streams, and then dis- 
appear from the boundless drier plains, have seen grassy 
plains change into a brown and sere desert—desert in the 
common sense, but hardly anywhere botanically so,—have seen 
a fair growth of coniferous trees adorning the more favoured 
slopes of a mountain-range high enough to compel summer 
showers—have traversed that broad and bare elevated region 
shut off on both sides by high mountains from the moisture 
supplied by either ocean, and longitudinally intersected by 
sierras which seemingly remain as naked as they were born— 
and have reached at length the westward slopes of the high 
mountain-barrier which, refreshed by the Pacific, bears the 
noble forests of the Sierra Nevada and the coast-range, and 
among them trees which are the wonder of the world. As I 
stood in their shade in the groves of Mariposa and Calaveras, 
and again under the canopy of the commoner redwood, raised 
on columns of such majestic height and ample girth, it occurred 
to me that I could not do better than to share with you, upon 
this occasion, some of the thoughts which possessed my mind. 


54 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 


In their development they may, perhaps, lead us up to ques- 
tions of considerable scientific interest. 

I shall not detain you with any remarks (which would now 
be trite) upon the size or longevity of these far-famed Sequoia 
trees, or of the sugar-pines, incense-cedar, and firs associated 
with them, of which even the prodigious bulk of the dominating 
Sequoia does not sensibly diminish the grandeur. Although 
no account and no photographic representation of either species 
of the far-famed Sequoia trees give any adequate impression 
of their singular majesty, still less of their beauty, yet my 
interest in them did not culminate merely or mainly in con- 
siderations of their size and age. .Other trees in other parts of 
the world may claim to be older ; certain Australian gum-trees 
(Hucalypti) are said to be taller. Some, we are told, rise so 
high that they might even cast a flicker of shadow upon the 
summit of the pyramid of Cheops; yet the oldest of them 
doubtless grew from seed which was shed long after the names 
of the pyramid-builders had been forgotten. So far as we can 
judge from the actual counting of the layers of several trees, 
no Sequoia now alive can sensibly antedate the Christian era. 

Nor was I much impressed with an attraction of man’s 
adding. That the more remarkable of these trees should bear 
distinguishing appellations seems proper enough; but the 
tablets of personal names which are affixed to many of them 
in the most visited groves (as if the memory of more or less 
notable people of our day might be made more enduring by 
the juxtaposition) do suggest some incongruity. When we 
consider that a hand’s breadth at the circumference of any one 
of the venerable trunks so placarded has recorded in annual 
lines the lifetime of the individual thus associated with it, one 
may question whether the next hand’s breadth may not 
measure the fame of some of the names thus ticketed for ad- 
ventitious immortality. Whether it be the man or the tree 
that is honoured in the connexion, probably either would live 
as long, in fact and in memory, without it. 

One notable thing about these Sequoia trees is their ¢solation. 
Most of the trees associated with them are of peculiar species ; 
and some of them are nearly as local. Yet every pine, fir, 
and cypress in California is in some sort familiar, because it has 
near relatives in other parts of the world; but the redwoods 
have none. The redwood (including in that name the two 
species of “big trees”) belongs to the general cypress family, 
but is sw? generis. Thus isolated systematically, and extremely 
isolated geographically, and so wonderful in size and port, 
they, more than other trees, suggest questions. 

Were they created thus local and lonely, denizens of Cali- 


Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 5d 


fornia only—one in limited numbers in a few choice spots on 
the Sierra Nevada, the other along the coast-range from the 
Bay of Monterey to the frontiers of Oregon? Are they veri- 
table Melchizedecs, without pedigree or early relationship, and 
possibly fated to be without descent ? 

Or are they now coming upon the stage (or rather were 
they coming but for man’s interference) to play a part in the 
future ? 

Or are they remnants, sole and scanty survivors of a race 
that has played a grander part in the past, but is now verging 
to extinction? Have they had a career? and can that career 
be ascertained or surmised, so that we may at least guess 
whence they came, and how and when? 

Time was, and not long ago, when such questions as these 
were regarded as useless and vain, when students of natural 
history, unmindful of what the name denotes, were content 
with a knowledge of things as they now are, but gave little 
heed as to how they came to be so. Now such questions are 
held to be legitimate, and perhaps not wholly unanswerable. It 
cannot now be said that these trees inhabit their present re- 
stricted areas simply because they are there placed in the 
climate and soil of ail the world most congenial to them. 
These must indeed be congenial or they would not survive. 
But when we see how Australian Hucalyptus trees thrive upon 
the Californian coast, and how these very redwoods flourish 
upon another continent—how the so-called wild oat (Avena 
stertlis) of the Old World has taken full possession of California 
—how that cattle and horses, introduced by the Spaniard, 
have spread as widely and made themselves as much at home 
on the plains of La Plata as on those of Tartary, and that the 
cardoon-thistle seeds, and others they brought with them, have 
multiplied there into numbers probably much exceeding those 
extant in their native lands; indeed, when we contemplate our 
own race and our own particular stock taking such recent but 
dominating possession of this New World—when we consider 
how the indigenous flora of islands generally succumbs to the 
foreigners which come in the train of man, and that most weeds 
(7. e. the prepotent plants in open soil) of all temperate climates 
are not “to the manor born,” but are self-invited intruders, 
—we must needs abandon the notion of any primordial and 
absolute adaptation of plants and animals to their habitats, 
which may stand in leu of explanation and so preclude our 
inquiring any further. The harmony of Nature and its ad- 
mirable perfection need not be regarded as inflexible and 
changeless. Nor need Nature be likened to a statue or a cast 
in rigid bronze, but rather to an organism with play and 


4 


56 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and tts History. 


adaptability of parts, and life and even soul informing the 
whole. Under the former view Nature would be “ the faultless 
monster which the world ne’er saw,” but inscrutable as the 
Sphinx, whom it were vain, or worse, to question of the whence 
and whither. Under the other, the perfection of nature, if 
relative, is multifarious and ever renewed, and much that is 
enigmatical now may find explanation in some record of the 
ast. 

That the two species of redwood we are contemplating ori- 
gimated as they are and where they are, and for the part they 
are now playing, is, to say the least, not a scientific supposition, 
nor in any sense a probable one. Nor is it more likely that 
they are destined to play a conspicuous part in the future, or 
that they would have done so, even if the Indian’s fires and 
white man’s axe had spared them. The redwood of the coast 
(Sequoia sempervirens) had the stronger hold upon existence, 
forming as it did large forests throughout a narrow belt about 
300 miles in length, and being so tenacious of life that every 
large stump sprouts into a copse. But it does not pass the 
Bay of Monterey, nor cross the line of Oregon, although so 
grandly developed not far below it. The more remarkable 
Sequova gigantea of the Sierra exists in numbers so limited that 
the separate groves may be reckoned upon the fingers, and the 
trees of most of them have been counted, except near their 
southern limit, where they are said to be more copious. A 
species limited in individuals holds its existence by a precarious 
tenure ; and this has a foothold only in a few sheltered spots, 
of a happy mean in temperature and locally favoured with 
moisture in summer. Even there, for some reason or other, 
the pines with which they are associated (Pinus Lambertiana 
and P. ponderosa), the firs (Abies grandis and A. amabilis), 
and even the incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens) possess a 
great advantage, and, though they strive in vain to emulate 
their size, wholly overpower the Sequoias in numbers. “ To 
him that hath shall be given ;” the force of numbers eventually 
wins. Atleast, in the commonly visited groves Sequoia gi- 
gantea is invested in its last stronghold, can neither advance 
into more exposed positions above, nor fall back into drier and 
barer ground below, nor hold its own in the long run where it is, 
under present conditions; and a little further drying of the 
climate, which must once have been much moister than now, 
would precipitate its doom. Whatever theindividual longevity, 
certain if not speedy is the decline of a race in which a high 
death-rate afflicts the young. Seedlings of the big trees occur 
not rarely, indeed, but in meagre proportion to those of asso- 
ciated trees ; and small indeed is the chance that any of these 


Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 57 


will attain to “the days of the years of their fathers.” ‘Few 
and evil”’ are the days of all the forest likely to be, while man, 
both barbarian and civilized, torments them with fires, fatal at 
once to seedlings and at length to the aged also. ‘The forests 
of California, proud as the State may be of them, are already 
too scanty and insufficient for her uses ; two lines, such as may 
be drawn with one sweep of a small brush over the map, would 
cover them all. The coast redwood, the most important tree 
in California, although a million times more numerous than its 
relative of the Sierra, is too good to live long. Such is its value 
for lumber and its accessibility that, judging the future by the 
past, it is not likely in its primeval growth to outlast its rarer 
fellow species. 

Happily man preserves and desseminates as well as destroys. 
The species will probably be indefinitely preserved to science, 
and for ornamental and other uses, in its own and other lands ; 
and the more remarkable individuals of the present day are 
likely to be sedulously cared for, all the more so as they become 
scarce. 

Our third question remains to be answered: Have these 
famous Sequoias*played in former times and upon a larger 
stage a more imposing part, of which the present is but the 
epilogue? We cannot gaze high up the huge and venerable 
trunks, which one crosses the continent to behold, without 
wishing that these patriarchs of the grove were able, like the 
long-lived antediluvians of scripture, to hand down to us 
through a few generations the traditions of centuries, and so 
tell us somewhat of the history of theirrace. Fifteen hundred 
annual layers have been counted, or satisfactorily made out, 
upon one or two fallen trunks; it is probable that close to the 
heart of some of the living trees may be found the circle that 
records the year of our Saviour’s nativity. A few generations 
of such trees might carry the history a long way back; but 
the ground they stand upon, and the marks of very recent 
geological change and vicissitude in the region around, testify 
that not very many such generations can have flourished just 
there, at least in an unbroken series. When their site was 
covered by glaciers these Sequoias must have occupied other 
stations, if, as there is reason to believe, they then existed in 
the land. 

I have said that the redwoods have no near relatives in the 
country of their abode, and none of their genus anywhere else. 
Perhaps something may be learned of their genealogy by in- 
quiring of such relatives as they have. There are only two 
of any particular nearness of kin ; and they are far away. One 
is the bald cypress, our southern cypress (Zawodium), inhabiting 


58 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and tts History. 


the swamps of the Atlantic coast from Maryland to Texas, 
thence extending into Mexico: it is well known as one of the 
largest trees of our Atlantic forest-district; and although it 
never (except perhaps in Mexico, and in rare instances) attains 
the portliness of its western relatives, yet it may equal them 
in longevity. The other relative is G'lyptostrobus, a sort of 
modified Taxodium, being about as much like our bald cypress 
as one species of redwood is like the other. 

Now species of the same type, especially when few and the 
type peculiar, are in a general way associated geographically, 
z.e. inhabit the same country or (in a large sense) the same 
region. Where itis not so, where near relatives are separated, 
there is usually something to be explained, Here is an instance. 
These four trees, sole representatives of their tribe, dwell almost 
in three separate quarters of the world—the two redwoods in 
California, the bald cypress in Atlantic North America, its near 
relative, G'lyptostrobus, in China. 

It was not alwaysso. In the tertiary period, the geological 
botanists assure us, our own very Taxodium, or bald cypress, 
and a Glyptostrobus exceedingly like the present Chinese tree, 
and more than one Sequova coexisted in a fourth quarter of the 
globe, viz.in Europe! This brings up the question: Is it 
possible to bridge over these four wide intervals of space and 
the much vaster interval of time, so as to bring these extra- 
ordinarily separated relatives into connexion? ‘The evidence 
which may be brought to bear upon this question is various 
and widely scattered. I bespeak your patience while I en- 
deavour to bring together in an abstract the most important 
points of it. 

Some interesting facts may come out by comparing generally 
the botany of the three remote regions, each of which is the 
sole home of one of these three genera—i. e. Sequova in Cali- 
fornia, Taxodium in the Atlantic United States, and Glypto- 
strobus in China, which compose the whole of the peculiar 
tribe under consideration. 

Note then, first, that there is another set of three or four 
peculiar trees, in this case of the yew family, which has just 
the same peculiar distribution, and which therefore may have 
the same explanation, whatever that explanation be. The 
genus Torreya, which commemorates our botanical Nestor and 
a former president of this association (Dr. Torrey), was founded 
upon a tree rather lately discovered (that is, about thirty-five 
years ago) in northern Florida. It is a noble yew-like tree 
and very local, being known only for a few miles along the 
shores of a single river. It seems as if it had somehow been 
crowded down out of the Alleghanies into its present limited 


Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 59 


southern quarters; for in cultivation it evinces a northern 
hardiness. Now another species of Yorreya is a characteristic 
tree of Japan ; and the same, or one very like it indeed, inhabits 
the Himalayas—belongs therefore to the Eastern Asiatic 
temperate region, of which China is a part, and Japan, as we 
shall see, the portion most interesting to us. There is only 
one more species of Yorreya; and that is a companion of the 
redwoods in California ; it is the tree locally known under the 
name of the California nutmeg. In this case the three are near 
brethren, species of the same genus, known nowhere else than 
in these three habitats. 

Moreover the ZYorreya of Florida has growing with it a 
yew tree, and the trees of that grove are the only yew trees of 
Eastern America; for the yew of our northern woods is a de- 
cumbent shrub. The only other yew trees in America grow 
with the redwoods and the other Torreya in California, and 
more plentifully further north,in Oregon. A yew tree equally 
accompanies the Zorreya of Japan and the Himalayas; and 
-this is apparently the same as the common yew of Europe. 

So we have three groups of trees of the great coniferous order 
which agree in this peculiar geographical distribution :—the red- 
woods and their relatives, which differ widely enough to be 
termed a different genus in each region; the Torreyas, more 
nearly akin, merely a different species in each region ; the yews, 
perhaps all of the same species, perhaps not quite that (for 
opinions differ and can hardly be brought to any decisive test). 
The yews of the Old World, from Japan to Western Europe, 
are considered the same; the very local one in Florida is 
slightly different ; that of California and Oregon differs a very 
little more ; but all of them are within the limits of variation 
of many a species. However that may be, it appears to me 
that these several instances all raise the same question, only 
with a different degree of emphasis, and, if to be explained at 
all, will have the same kind of explanation. But the value of 
the explanation will be in proportion to the number of facts it 
will explain. 

Continuing the comparison between the three regions with 
which we are concerned, we note that each has its own species 
of pines, firs, larches, &c., and of a few deciduous-leaved trees, 
such as oaks and maples; all of which have no peculiar sig- 
nificance for the present purpose, because they are of genera 
which are common all round the northern hemisphere. Leaving 
these out of view, the noticeable point is that the vegetation of 
California is most strikingly unlike that of the Atlantic United 
States. They possess some plants, and some peculiarly Ame- 
rican plants, in common—enough to show, as I imagine, that 


60 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and tts History. 


the difficulty was not in the getting from the one district to the 
other, or into both from a common source, but in abiding there. 
The primordially unbroken forest of Atlantic North America, 
nourished by rainfall distributed throughout the year, is widely 
separated from the western region of sparse and discontinuous 
tree-belts of the same latitude on the western side of the con- 
tinent, where summer rain is wanting or nearly so, by immense 
treeless plains and plateaux of more or less aridity, traversed 
by longitudinal mountain-ranges of a similar character. Their 
nearest approach is at the north, in the latitude of Lake 
Superior, where, on a more rainy line, trees of the Atlantic 
forest and that of Oregon may be said to interchange. The 
change of species and of the aspect of vegetation in crossing, 
say on the forty-seventh parallel, is slight in comparison with 
that on the thirty-seventh or near it. Confining our attention 
to the lower latitude, and under the exceptions already specially 
noted, we may say that almost every characteristic form in the 
vegetation of the Atlantic States is wanting in California, and 
the characteristic plants and trees of California are wanting - 
here. 

California has no Magnolia, nor tulip-trees, nor star-anise 
tree, no so-called papaw (Asimdna), no barberry of the common 
single-leaved sort, no Podophyllum or other of the peculiar 
associated genera, no Nel/wmbo nor white water-lily, no prickly 
ash nor sumach, no loblolly-bay nor Stuartia, no basswood 
or linden-trees, neither locust, honey-locust, coffee-trees 
(Gymnocladus), nor yellow-wood ( Cladrastis) , nothing answer- 
ing to Hydrangea or witch-hazel, to gum-trees (Nyssa and 
Liquidambar), Viburnum or Diervilla; it has few asters and 
golden-rods, no lobelias, no huckle-berries, and hardly any 
blue-berries—no Epigea, charm of our earliest eastern spring, 
tempering an icy April wind with a delicious wild fragrance— 
no Kalmia, nor Clethra, nor holly, nor persimmon—no catalpa 
tree, nor trumpet-creeper (Zecoma)—nothing answering to sas- 
safras, or to benzoin tree, or to hickory—neither mulberry nor 
elm—no beech, true chestnut, hornbeam, nor ironwood, nor a 
proper birch tree; and the enumeration might be continued 
very much further by naming herbaceous plants and others 
familiar only to botanists. 

In their place California is filled with plants of other types, 
trees, shrubs, and herbs, of which I will only remark that they 
are, with one or two exceptions, as different from the plants of 
the eastern Asiatic region with which we are concerned (Japan, 
China, and Mandchuria) as they are from those of Atlantic 
North America. Their near relatives, when they have any in 
other lands, are mostly southward, on the Mexican plateau, or 


Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 61 


many as far south as Chili. The same may be said of the 
plants of the interyening great plains, except that northward 
and in the subsaline vegetation there are some close alliances 
with the flora of the steppes of Siberia. And along the crests 
of high mountain-ranges the arctic alpine flora has sent south- 
ward more or less numerous representatives through the whole 
length of the country. 

If we now compare, as to their flora generally, the Atlantic 
United States with Japan, Mandchuria, and Northern China, 
@. e. eastern North America with eastern North Asia (half the 
earth’s circumference apart), we find an astonishing similarity. 
The larger part of the genera of our own region which I have 
enumerated as wanting in California are present in Japan or 
Mandchuria, along with many other peculiar plants, divided 
between the two. There are plants enough of the one region 
which have no representatives in the other. ‘There are types 
which appear to have, reached the Atlantic States from the 
south ; and there is a larger infusion of subtropical Asiatic types 
into temperate China and Japan: among these there is no re- 
lationship between the two countries to speak of. There are 
also, as | have already said, no small number of genera and 
some species which, being common all round or partially round 
the northern temperate zone, have no special significance 
because of their occurrence in these two antipodal floras, al- 
though they have testimony to bear upon the general question 
of geographical distribution. The point to be remarked is that 
many or even most of the genera and species which are peculiar 
to North America as compared with Europe, and largely pecu- 
liar to Atlantic North America as compared with the Califor- 
nian region, are also represented in Japan and Mandchuria, 
either by identical or by closely similar forms! The same 
rule holds on a more northward line, although not so strikingly. 
If we compare the plants, say of New England and Pennsyl- 
vania (lat. 45°-47°), with those of Oregon, and then with those 
of North-eastern Asia, we shall find many of our own curiously 
repeated in the latter, while only a small number of them can 
be traced along the route even so far as the western slope of the 
Rocky Mountains. And these repetitions of Hastern American 
types in Japan and neighbouring districts are in all degrees of 
likeness. Sometimes the one is undistinguishable from the 
other ; sometimes there is a difference of aspect, but hardly of a 
tangible character ; sometimes the two would be termed marked 
varieties if they grew naturally in the same forest or in the 
same region; sometimes they are what the botanist calls re- 
presentative species, the one answering closely to the other, 
but with some differences regarded as specific; sometimes the 


62 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 


two are merely of the same genus, or not quite that, but of a 
single or very few species in each country,—when the point 
which interests us is that this peculiar limited type should 
occur in two antipodal places, and nowhere else. 

It would be tedious and, except to botanists, abstruse to 
enumerate instances ; yet the whole strength of the case depends 
upon the number of such instances. I propose, therefore, if 
the Association does me the honour to print this discourse, to 
append in a note a list of the more remarkable ones. But I 
would here mention two or three cases as specimens. 

Our Rhus toxicodendron, or poison-ivy, 1s very exactly re- 
peated in Japan, but is found in no other part of the world, 
although a species much like it abounds in California. Our 
other poisonous hus (2. venenata), commonly called poison dog- 
wood, is in no way represented in Western America, but has 
so close an analogue in Japan that the two were taken for 
the same by Thunberg and Linneus, who called them &. 
vernix. 

Our northern fox-grape (Vitis labrusca) is wholly confined 
to the Atlantic States, except that it reappears in Japan and 
that region. 

The original Wistaria is a woody leguminous climber with 
showy blossoms, native to the Middle Atlantic States ; the 
other species, which we so much prize in cultivation, W. s7- 
nensis,is from China, as its name denotes, or perhaps only from 
Japan, where it is certainly indigenous. 

Our yellow wood (Cladrastis) inhabits a very limited dis- 
trict on the western slope of the Alleghanies. Its only and 
very near relative (Maackia) is in Mandchuria. 

The Hydrangeas have some species in our Alleghany region. 
All the rest belong to the Chino-Japanese region and its con- 
tinuation westward. The same may be said of Philadelphus, 
except that there are one or two mostly very similar in Cali- 
fornia and Oregon. 

Our blue cohosh (Cauwlophyllum) is confined to the woods of 
the Atlantic States, but has lately been discovered in Japan. 
A peculiar relative of it, Diphylleia, confined to the higher 
Alleghanies, is also repeated in Japan, with a slight difference, 
so that it may barely be distinguished as another species. 
Another relative is our twin leaf, Jeffersonia, of the Alleghany 
region alone. A second species has lately turned up in Mand- 
churia. A relative of this is Podophyllum, our mandrake, a 
common inhabitant of the Atlantic United States, but found 
nowhere else. ‘There is one other species of it; and that is in 
the Himalayas. Here are four most peculiar genera of one 
family, each of a single species in the Atlantic United States, 


Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 63 


which are duplicated on the other side of the world, either in 
identical or almost identical species, or in an analogous species, 
while nothing elsé of the kind is known in any other part of 
the world. 

I ought not to omit ginseng, the root so prized by the Chi- 
nese, which they obtained from their northern provinces and 
Mandchuria, and which is now known to inhabit Corea and 
Northern Japan. The Jesuit Fathers identified the plant 
in Canada and the Atlantic States, brought over the Chinese 
name by which we know it, and established the trade in it, 
which was for many years most profitable. The exporta- 
tion of ginseng to China has probably not yet entirely ceased. 
Whether the Asiatic and the Atlantic American ginsengs are 
exactly of the same species or not is somewhat uncertain ; but 
they are hardly if at all distinguishable. 

There is a shrub, El/otiva, which is so rare and local that 
it is known only at two stations on the Savannah river in 
Georgia. It is of peculiar structure, and was without near 
relative until one was lately discovered in Japan (in Tripeta- 
leva) so like it as hardly to be distinguishable exeept by having 
the parts of the blossom in threes instead of fours, a difference 
which is not uncommon in the same genus or even in the 
same species. 

Suppose Liliottia had happened to be collected only once, a 
good while ago, and all knowledge of the limited and obscure 
locality was lost; and meanwhile the Japanese form came to 
be known. Such a case would be parallel with an actual one. 
A specimen of a peculiar plant, Shortia galacifolia, was de- 
tected in the herbarium of the elder Michaux, who collected it 
(as his autograph ticket shows) somewhere in the high Alle- 
ghany mountains more than eighty years ago. No one has 
seen the living plant since, or knows where to find it, if haply 
it still flourishes in some secluded spot. At length it is found 
in Japan; and I had the satisfaction of making the identifica- 
tion*. One other relative is also known in Japan; and an- 
other, still unpublished, has just been detected in Thibet. 

Whether the Japanese and the Alleghanian plants are ex- 
actly the same or not, it needs complete specimens of the two 
to settle. So far as we know they are just alike. And even 
if some difference were discerned between them, it would not 
appreciably alter the question as to how such a result came to 
pass. Each and every one of the analogous cases I have 
been detailing (and very many more could be mentioned) 
raises the same question and would be satisfied with the same 
answer. 


* Amer, Journ, Science, 1867, p. 402; Proc. Amer. Acad. viii. p. 244. 


64 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 


These singular relations attracted my curiosity early in the 
course of my botanical studies, when comparatively few of 
them were known, and my serious attention in later years, 
when I had numerous and new Japanese plants to study in 
the collections made by Messrs. Williams and Morrow dur- 
ing Commodore Perry’s visit in 1853, and especially by Mr. 
Charles Wright in Commodore Rodgers’s expedition in 1855. 
I then discussed this subject somewhat fully, and tabulated 
the facts within my reach*. 

This was before Heer had developed the rich fossil botany 
of the arctic zone, before the immense antiquity of existing 
species of plants was recognized, and before the publication 
of Darwin’s now famous volume on the Origin of Species 
had introduced and familiarized the scientific world with those 
now current ideas respecting the history and vicissitudes of 
species, with which I attempted to deal in a tentative and 
feeble way. 

My speculation was based upon the former glaciation of the 
northern temperate zone, and the inference of a warmer period 
preceding (and perhaps following). I considered that our own 
present vegetation, or its proximate ancestry, must have occu- 
pied the arctic and subarctic regions in pliocene times, and 
that it had been gradually pushed southward as the tempera- 
ture lowered and the glaciation advanced even beyond its 
present habitation—that plants of the same stock and kindred, 
probably ranging round the arctic zone as the nee arctic 
species do, made their forced migration southward upon widely 
different longitudes, and receded more or less as the climate 
grew warmer—that the general difference of climate which 
marks the eastern and the western sides of the continents 
(the one extreme, the other mean) was doubtless even then 
established, so that the same species and the same sorts of 
species would be likely to secure and retain foothold in the 
similar climates of Japan and the Atlantic United States, but 
not in intermediate regions of different distribution of heat and 
moisture, so that different species of the same genus, as in 
Torreya, or different genera of the same group, as Redwood, 
Taxodium, and Glyptostrobus, or different associations of forest 
trees, might establish themselves each in the region best suited 
to its particular requirements, while they would fail to do 
so in any other. ‘These views implied that the sources of our 
actual vegetation, and the explanation of these peculiarities, 
were to be sought in and presupposed an ancestry in pliocene 
or still earlier times occupying the high northern regions. 
And it was thought that the occurrence of peculiarly North- 

* Mem. Amer, Acad. vol. vi. 


Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 65 


American genera in Europe in the tertiary period (such as 
Taxodium, Carya, Liquidambar, Sassafras, Negundo, &c.) 
might be best explained on the assumption of early inter- 
change and diffusion through North Asia, rather than by that 
of the fabled Atlantis. 

The hypothesis supposed a gradual modification of species 
in different directions under altering conditions, at least to the 
extent of producing varieties, — and tepresentative 
species, as they may be variously regar se the sin- 
gle and local origination of each type, which is now almost 

universally taken for granted. 

The remarkable facts in regard to the Eastern-American 
and Asiatic floras, which these speculations were to explain, 
have since increased in number—more especially through the 
admirable collections of Dr. Maximowicz in Japan and adja- 
cent countries, and the critical comparisons he has made and 
is still engaged upon. 

I am bound to state that in a recent general work* by a dis- 
tinguished botanist, Professor Grisebach, of Gottingen, these 
facts have been emptied of all special significance, and the 
relations between the Japanese and the Atlantic United States 
floras declared to be no more intimate than might be expected 
from the situation, climate, and present opportunity of inter- 
change. This extr ordinary conclusion is reached by regard- 
ing as distinct species all the plants common to both countries 
between which any differences have been discerned, although ° 

such differences would probably count for little if the two in- 

habited the same country, thus transferrmg many of my list 
of identical to that of representative species, and then by simply 
eliminating from consideration the whole array of representa- 
tive species, ¢.e. all cases in which the Japanese and the 
American plant are not exactly alike,—as if, by pronouncing 
the cabalistic word specdes, the question were settled, or rather 
the greater part of itremanded out of the domain of science— 
as if, while complete identity of forms implies community of 
region, any thing short of it carries no presumption of the 
_ kind—so leaving all these smgular duplicates to be wondered 
at, indeed, but wholly beyond ‘the reach of i inquiry. 

Now the only known cause of such likeness is inheritance ; 
and as all transmission of likeness is with some difference in 
individuals, and as changed conditions have resulted, as is well 
known, in very considerable differences, it seems to me that if 
the high antiguity of our actual vegetation could be rendered 
probable, not to say certain, and the former habitation of any 
of our species, or of very near * relatives of them in high northern 

* Die Vegetation der Erde nach ihrer klimatischen Anordnung. 1871. 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol. xi. 5 


66 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and tts History. 


regions could be ascertained, my whole case would be made 
out. The needful facts, of which I was ignorant when my 
essay was published, have now been for some years made 
known, thanks mainly to the researches of Heer upon ample 
Ppliceions of arctic fossil plants. These are confirmed and 
extended through new investigations by Heer and Lesque- 
reux, the results of which have been indicated to me by the 
latter. 

The Yaxodium which everywhere abounds in the miocene 
formations in Europe, has been specitically identified, first 
by Goeppert, then by Heer, with our common cypress be the 
Southern States. It has heen found fossil in Spitzbergen, 
Greenland, and Alaska, in the latter country along with the 
remains af another form, distinguishable, but very like the 
common Species ; > and this has heen ened by Lesquereux 
in the miocene of the Rocky Mountains. So there is one 
species of tree which has come down essentially unchanged 
from the tertiary period, which for a long while inhabited both 
Europe and North America, and also at some part of the 
period the region which geographically connects the two (once 
doubtless much more closely than now), but has survived only 
in the Atlantic United States and Mexico. 

The same Seguova which abounds in the same miocene for- 
mations in Northern Europe has been abundantly found in 
those of Iceland, Spitzbergen, Greenland, Mackenzie river, and 
Alaska. It is Lumned S. Langsdor fit, rae is pronounced to be 
very much like S. sempervirens, our living redwood of the 
Californian coast, and to be the ancient represent: itive of it. 
Fossil specimens of a similar, if not the same, species have 
been recently detected in the Rocky Mountains by Hayden, 
and determined by our eminent palxontological botanist, Les- 
quereux ; and he assures me that he has the common redwood 
itself from Oregon, in a deposit of tertiary age. Another 
Sequota (S. Sternbergit), discovered in miocene deposits in 
Greenland, is pronounce d to be the representative of S. gigan- 
tea, the bie tree of the Californian sierra. Ifthe Vaxodiwm 
of tertiary time in Europe and throughout the arctic regions 
is the ancestor of our present bald cypress, which is assumed 
in regarding them as specifically identical, then I think we 
may, “with our present light, fairly assume ‘hat the two red- 
woods of California are the dibeet or collateral descendents of 
the two ancient species which so closely resemble them. 

The forests of the arctic zone in tertiary times contained at 
least three other species of Seguova, as determined by their re- 
mains, one of which, from Spitzbergen, also much resembles the 
common redwood of California. Another, “‘ which appears to 


Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and tts Llistory. 67 


have been the commonest coniferous tree on Disco,” was 
common in England and some other parts of Europe. So the 
Sequoias, now remarkable for their restricted station and num- 
bers, as well as for their extraordinary size, are of an ancient 
stock ; their ancestors and kindred formed a large part of the 
forests which flourished throughout the polar regions, now 
desolate and ice-clad, and which extended into low latitudes 
in Europe. On this continent one species at least had reached 
to the vicinity of its present habitat before the glaciation of 
the region. Among the fossil specimens already found in 
California, but which our trustworthy paleontological botanist 
has not yet had time to examine, we may expect to find 
evidence of the early arrival of these two redwoods upon the 
ground which they now, after much vicissitude, scantily 
oceupy. 

Differences of climate, or circumstances of migration, or 
both, must have determined the survival of Sequoia wpon the 
Pacific, and of Taaxodium upon the Atlantic coast ; and still the 
redwoods will not stand in the east, nor could our Taxodium 
find a congenial station in California. 

As to the remaining near relative of Sequoia, the Chinese 
Glyptostrobus, a species of it, and its veritable representative, 
was contemporancous with Sequota and Taaxodium, not only 
in temperate Hurope, but throughout the arctic regions from 
Greenland to Alaska. Very similar would seem to have been 
the fate of a more familiar gymnospermous tree, the gingko 
or Salisburia. It is now indigenous to Japan only. Its an- 
cestor, as we may fairly call it (since, according to Heer, “ it 
corresponds so entirely with the living species that it can 
scarcely be separated from it”), once inhabited Northern 
Europe and the whole arctic region round to Alaska, and had 
even a representative further south in our Rocky-Mountain 
district. For some reason, this and Glyptostrobus survived 
only on the shores of Eastern Asia. 

Libocedrus, on the other hand, appears to have cast in its 
lot with the Sequoias. Two species, according to Heer, were 
with them in Spitzbergen. Of the two now living, L. decur- 
vens (the incense cedar) is one of the noblest associates of 
the present redwoods; the other is far south, in the Andes of 
Chili. 

The genealogy of the Torreyas is more obscure; yet it is 
not unlikely that the yew-like trees named Vaaites, which 
flourished with the Sequoias in the tertiary arctic forests, are 
the remote ancestors of the three species of Yorreya, now 
severally in Florida, in California, and in Japan. 


As to the pines and firs, these were more numerously asso- 
pe 
5% 


68 Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 


ciated with the ancient Sequoias of the polar forests than with 
their present representatives, but in different species, apparently 
more like those of Eastern than of Western North America. 
They must have encircled the polar zone then, as they encircle 
the present temperate zone now. 

T must refrain from all enumeration of the angiospermous or 
ordinary deciduous trees and shrubs which are now known by 
their fossil remains to have flourished throughout the polar 
regions when Greenland better deserved its name, and enjoyed 
the present climate of New England and New Jersey. Then 
Greenland and the rest of the north abounded with oaks, re- 
presenting the several groups of species which now inhabit 
both our eastern and western forest districts—several poplars, 
one very like our balsam poplar or balm-of-Gilead tree—more 
beeches than there are now, a hornbeam, and a hop hornbeam, 
some birches, a persimmon, and a plane-tree, near represen- 
tatives of those of the Old World, at least of Asia, as well as 
of Atlantic North America, but all wanting in California— 
one Juglans like the walnut of the Old World, and another 
like our black walnut—two or three grape-vines, one near our 
Southern fox grape or muscadine, the other near our Northern 
frost grape—a Tilia very like our basswood of the Atlantic 
States only, a Liguidambar, a Magnolia which recalls our 
M. grandiflora, a Liriodendron, sole representative of our 
tulip-tree, and a sassafras very like the living tree. 

Most of these, it will be noticed, have their nearest or their 
only living representatives in the Atlantic States—and when 
elsewhere, mainly in Hastern Asia. Several of them, or of 
species like them, have been detected in our tertiary deposits 
west of the Mississippi, by Newberry and Lesquereux. 

Herbaceous plants, as it happens, are rarely preserved in a 
fossil state ; else they would probably supply additional testi- 
mony to the antiquity of our existing vegetation, its wide 
diffusion over the northern and now frigid zone, and its enforced 
migrations under changes of climate. 

Concluding, then, as we must, that our existing vegetation, 
as a whole, is a continuation of that of the tertiary period, may 
we suppose that it absolutely originated then? Evidently not. 
The preceding Cretaceous period has furnished to Carruthers 
in Europe a fossil fruit like that of the Sequoia gigantea of the 
famous groves, associated with pines of the same character as 
those that accompany the present tree—has furnished to Heer, 
from Greenland, two more Sequoias, one of them identical with 
a tertiary species, and one nearly allied to Sequoia Langsdorfit, 
which in turn is a probable ancestor of the common Californian 
redwood—has furnished to Lesquereux in North America the 


Prof. Asa Gray on Sequoia and its History. 69 


remains of another ancient Sequoia, a Glyptostrobus, a Liquid- 
ambar which well represents our sweet-gum tree, oaks analo- 
gous to living ones, leaves of a plane-tree which are also in 
the tertiary and are scarcely distinguishable from our own 
Platanus occidentalis, of a magnolia and tulip-tree, and “ of 
a sassafras undistinguishable from our living species.”’ I need 
not continue the enumeration. Suffice it to say that the facts 
will justify the conclusion which Lesquereux (a very scrupu- 
lous investigator) has already announced, ‘ That the essential 
types of our actual flora are marked in the Cretaceous period, 
and have come to us after passing, without notable changes, 
through the tertiary formations of our continent.” 

According to these views, as regards plants at least, the 
adaptation to successive times and changed conditions has been 
maintained, not by absolute renewals, but by gradual modifi- 

cations. it for one, cannot doubt that the present existing 
species are the lineal successors of those that garnished the earth 
in the old time before them, and that they were as well adapted 
to their surroundings then as those which flourish and bloom 
around us are to their conditions now. Order and exquisite 
adaptation did not wait for man’s coming, nor were they ever 
stereotyped. Organic Nature (by which I mean the system 
and totality of living things, and their adaptation to each 
other and to the world), with all its apparent and indeed real 
stability, should be likened, not to the ocean, which varies 
only by tidal oscillations from a fixed level to which it is 
always returning, but rather to a river so vast that we can 
neither discern its shores nor reach its sources, whose onward 
flow is not less actual because too slow to be observed by the 
Ephemere which hover over its surface or are borne upon 
its bosom. 

Such ideas as these, though still repugnant to some, and 
not long since to many, have so possessed the minds of the 
naturalists of the present day that hardly a discourse can 
be pronounced or an investigation prosecuted without refer- 
ence to them. I suppose that the views here taken are little 
if at all in advance of the average scientific mind of the day. 
I cannot regard them as less noble than those which they are 
succeeding. 

An able philosophical writer, Miss Frances Power Cobbe, 
has recently and truthfully said * :— 

“Tt is a singular fact that when we can find out how any 
thing is done, our first conclusion seems to be that God did 
not do it. No matter how wonderful, how beautiful, how in- 
timately complex and delicate has been the machinery which 

* “ Darwinism in Morals,” in Theological Review, April 1871. 


70 M. F. Plateau on the Aquatic Articulata. 


has worked, perhaps for centuries, perhaps for millions of 
ages, to bring about some beneficent ‘result, if we can but catch 
a glimpse of the wheels, its divine character disappears.” 

I agree with the writer that this first conclusion ‘is prema- 
ture and unworthy ; I will add, deplorable. Through what 
faults or infirmities of dogmatism on the one hand and scepti- 
cism on the other it came to be so thought, we need not here 
consider. Let us hope, and I confidently expect, that it is not 
to last—that the religious faith which survived without a 
shock the notion of the fixity of the earth itself, may equally 
outlast the notion of the absolute fixity of the species which 
inhabit it—that, m the future even more than in the past, 
faith in an order, which is the basis of science, will not (as it 
cannot reasonably) be dissevered from faith in an Ordainer, 
which is the basis of religion. 


VII.—Physico-chemical Investigations upon the Aquatic 
Articulata. By M. Fevrx Puareav. Part II.* 


THE first part of my investigations, of which an abstract was 
published in this Journal in 1871 (vol. vu. p. 862), contained 
the results of my experiments on the causes of the death of 
the freshwater Articulata in sea-water, and of the marine Ar- 
ticulata in fresh water. 

In the present memoir I take up three other interesting 
questions connected with the life of the aquatic Articulata— 
questions of detail indeed, the solution of which could not 
open any new vista in comparative physiology, but which, 
carefully treated, have led me by numerous experiments to 
curious and sometimes unexpected results. 


I. Experiments on the time during which the aquatic Articulata 
can remain in the water without coming to the surface to breathe. 


The swimming aquatic Articulata with aérial respiration 
(Coleoptera in the pertect state and Hemiptera) come frequently 
to the surface to renew their provision of air. If we pre- 
vent them from performing this operation, what will be the 
time during which they may with impunity be subjected to 
submersion? Is their resistance to asphyxia greater than that 
of terrestrial insects? or only equal or inferior to it? 

The experiments were effected as follows: at the bottom of 
an open vase of the capacity of one litre, and full of ordinary 
spring water aérated, a smaller vessel containing about 200 


oS 
cubic centimetres is placed ; a piece of cotton net is stretched 


* Bulletin de Acad. Roy. de Belgique, 2° sér. tome xxxiv. nos, 9 & 10, 
1872. From an Abstract by the Author. 


M. F. Plateau on the Aquatic Articulata. an 


over the orifice of the latter, im such a way that an insect placed 
in this smaller vessel is actually in the general mass of water, 
but cannot rise toits surface. 

Terrestrial insects placed in these conditions ascend, carried 
by their specific levity, till they rest against the lower surface 
of the net ; the movements of their feet soon cease, they do not 
seem to suffer, and quickly become insensible. ‘The aquatic 
Coleoptera and Hemiptera on the contrary, instead of sub- 
mitting passively to their fate, seek to escape from their prison, 
swim about rapidly, endeavour to rise to the surface, and con- 
tinue their agitation until their forces become weakened, and 
they finally remain as if dead at the bottom. 

‘l’o cause an insect which has been subjected to a prolonged 
immersion torecover from its state of insensibility,it is necessary, 
after taking it out of the water, to dry it with bibulous paper. 
If the duration of the submersion has not exceeded a certain 
limit, the animal gradually recovers its original activity, the 
trial it has undergone Ieaving no sensible traces upon it. 

These experiments were of course repeated as much as 
possible upon several individuals and with different durations, 
so as to ascertain for each species the limit of time after which 
the insect was actually dead. I have thus arrived at the fol- 
lowing two curious conclusions, which are supported by a 
great number of experiments. 

1. Terrestrial Coleoptera resist complete submersion during 
a very long time (from three to four days). For example, 

Oryctes nasicornis resists a submersion of 96 hours. 
Agelastica alni (2 


” ” > 
Carabus auratus - y 71h. 30-m. 


2. Natatory aquatic Coleoptera and Hemiptera, far from 
presenting a greater resistance to asphyxia by submersion, are 
no better endowed in this respect than terrestrial insects, and 
even perish in most cases much more rapidly. I cite the fol- 
lowing numbers from the tables in my memoir :— 


A Dytiscus marginalis g died at the end of 65 h. 30 m. 


An Acilius sulcatus ? a 4 24 hours. 
A Nepa cinerea - - Ey p 

ia ee f 
A Notonecta glauca HS 95 Sei, 


The cause of this unexpected inferiority of the aquatic in- 
sects seems to consist exclusively in their greater activity in 
the water, and consequently in a more rapid expenditure of 
oxygen. 


II. Influence of cold: effects of congelation. 
What is the lowest temperature that the aquatic Articulata 


72 M. F. Plateau on the Aquatic Articulata. 


that we meet with in winter in these regioas can endure? can 
they remain with impunity fixed in the ice for a certain time ? 
And, in the event of a negative answer, what is the cause of 
the mischief observed ? 

The aquatic Articulata of our latitudes exist indefinitely in 
water kept by means of melting ice at a temperature of 32° F. 
As soon as we have recourse to lower temperatures, the water 
freezes, and the question then arises to ascertain how long the 
animals can remain completely fixed in ice at 32° F. 

All the experiments were made in winter upon the species 
which are met with in Belgium in December and January. 
They consisted in placing an aquatic insect or crustacean, 
together with the bulb of a Centigrade thermometer, in a thin 
glass tube containing a little water and surrounded by a freez- 
ing-mixture intended to produce the complete congelation of 
the liquid. Care was taken not to allow the temperature of 
the ice formed ever to descend below 0° C. After the lapse 
of a certain time the tube was taken out of the freezing-mix- 
ture and immersed in water of the temperature of the room, 
when, as soon as a commencement of fusion permitted, the 
lump of ice was extracted from the tube and put directly into 
water, in order to hasten the disengagement of the animal. 

The analysis of the results which I have obtained shows 
that the time during which the aquatic Articulata may be fixed 
in ice without perishing is excessively short, the longest resis- 
tance not having reached half an hour. The following num- 
bers will give an idea of the rapidity with which death ensues 
under these circumstances :— 


Imprisonment in ice at 0° C. (52° F.). 


Maximum period 


supported without Period which 


being followed by inevitably causes 
immediate death. death. 
minutes. sec. minutes. 

Agabus bipustulatus ....| Between 15and 20 0 25 
Hydroporus lineatus .... + 2D yy 10 30 
Gyrinus natator ...... * 10, Ley 15 
Notonecta glauca ...... 1075 30 20 
Corixa striata .....08- . 25 3 
Asellus aquaticus ...... 10.40 15 
Cyclops quadricornis.... 1 30 2 


I have endeayoured, by means of special experiments, to 
explain the cause of the rapid death of animals imprisoned in 
ice at 0° C.; but although these may, perhaps, be of a nature 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Spatulemys Lasale. 73 


to interest the reader, I shall confine myself to referring for 
their description to my memoir. The primary cause of rapid 
death when Articulata are fixed in ice, seems to be the abso- 
lute privation of movement and the consequent absorption of 
the corporeal heat, without any possible restitution. 


III. Action of heat: maximum temperature. 


I have endeavoured to ascertain by experiment the highest 
temperature which our freshwater insects, Arachnida, and 
Crustacea can endure—in other words, what is the tempera- 
ture of the hottest water in which they can live. : 

I haye thus found that the highest temperatures endured 
without serious accidents oscillate between 33°°5 and 462 C. 
(=92° and 115° F.), and consequently between very narrow 
limits. 

These temperatures correspond with those of a certain num- 
ber of known thermal springs, in the waters of which we may 
meet with articulate animals wherever the salts or gases in 
solution have no injurious action upon them. 

If we compare the results with which the aquatic Articulata 
have furnished me with those which have been obtained by 
means of animals belonging to other groups, we find that the 
highest temperature that aquatic animals, whether vertebrate, 
articulate, or molluscous, are able to support probably does 
not exceed 46° C. (115° F.). 


1X.—Additional Notes on Spatulemys Lasalee. 
By Dr. J. EK. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 
[Plate II] 


CotoneL P. Perez DE LASALA has brought with him several 
very interesting specimens from his museum, and has kindly 
presented to the British Museum a fine adult broad-nosed 
alligator, and a freshwater tortoise from Rio Parand, Corrientes, 
which is quite new to our collections, and the largest example 
of the family that has yet been brought to Kurope; I have 
named it, from its very depressed form, Spatulemys, and 
dedicated the species to the enterprising collector, by calling 
it Spatulemys Lasale (Plate I1.). 

This species was characterized in the ‘ Annals’ for 1872, 
x. p. 463, to which I wish to add the following particulars 
and comparisons with allied species, and also a figure of this 
very interesting animal. 

The genus has many similarities to Hydromedusa; and I 
thought at one time that it might be the //. tectifera of Mr. 
Cope, brought from the Parana or Uruguay river, and described 


74 Dr. J. E. Gray on Spatulemys Lasale. 
in the ‘ Proc. Amer. Phil. Soe.’ for 1869, p. 147; but it has a 


nuchal plate in the margin, and only five vertebral plates, and 
is quite distinct from the genus Hydromedusa. 

The mouth is semicircular in front, with the gape wide. 
The palate is broad, flat, with the internal nostrils oval, rather 
near together, rather before the hinder end of the alveolar 
surface. Alveolar surfaces flat, broad, well separated trom 
one another in front, broadest about one third their length from 
the front, and rather more than half the width behind, with a 
rounded outline. Lower jaw with a slightly concave alveolar 
surface, which is of the same breadth the whole of its 
length, and has a well developed raised sharp edge on the 
outer circumference and a less developed one on the inner 
margin. here is a well-marked conical tooth-like promi- 
nence in the front of the middle of the outer edge. 


The upper and lower jaws of The upper and lower jaws of 
Spatulemys Lasale. Hydraspis raniceps. 


The alveolar surface, as seen in the stuffed specimen, is very 
like that of the skeleton of Hydraspis raniceps: but the alveo- 
lar plates of the upper jaw of the latter species are well 
separated in the middle, and the internal nostrils are much 
further back in the palate ; and the alveolar edge of the lower 
jaw is even—and not with the rounded tubercle on each side, 
rather behind the central tube. 

In Hydraspis Gordonii (P. Z. 8. 1868, p. 563) the alveo- 
lar plates of each side of the upper jaw are separated by a 
narrow linear space ; they are moderately wide and nearly the 
same width for the whole length, truncated at the front end, 
and gradually rounded off at the hinder end. The internal 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Macleayius australiensis. 75 


nostrils are about opposite to the midddle of the length of the 
alveolar plate. ‘Lhe alveolar surface of the lower jaw 1s slightly 
concave, with a raised edge on the hinder side; it is rather 
broader "behind, and gradually slightly narrowed towards the 
front. There is a large slightly elevated rounded tubercle 
occupying the whole of the middle of the alveolar surfaces 
between the two rami, and a slight elevation on the outer 
margin on each side of the middle, giving the edge of the 
jaws ; rather a sinuated appearance. 


X.—On the Macleayius australiensis from New Zealand. 


By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


Dr. Haast has sent the skeleton of a New-Zealand whale 
to the British Museum as that of Caperea antipodarum; but 
the examination of the bones led me at first to believe that 
it was Hubalena australis. However, on further examination, 
the cervical vertebra and the blade-bone show that it cannot 
belong to either of those genera; for it has a broad upper 
process to the atlas, while they have a small narrow one; and 
it has an acromial process to the scapula, which is only’ very 
rudimentary in Caperea, and is of very different shape in 
Eubalena; \ike most whales, it has no coracoid. The form 
of the lobes of the atlas are so like those figured from a pho- 
tograph by Mr. Krefft, which I described and figured as 
Macleayius austr aliensis in the ‘Proc. Zool. Soc.’ 1864, and 
in the ‘Catalogue of Seals and Whales in the British 
Museum,’ 1866, p. 105, f. 10, 11, and p. 372, f. 74, 75, that 
I am inclined to consider it an example ‘of that genus, 
which was previously known only from a mass of cervical 
vertebre in the Australian Museum at Sydney. 

Upper jaw very narrow; the nasal bones oblong elongate, 
arched out at the front end. Cervical vertebra united into 
one mass. Atlas very large and thick, with a very long upper 
process forming a large keeled crest, which is united to the 
upper process of the five following vertebrae ; the upper 
lateral process of the atlas high, square, truncated at the end ; 
the lower process twice as high as broad, with an oblong, 
rounded end. The other cervical vertebra short, thin: the 
second with slender upper and lower lateral processes; the 
remainder with only descending superior processes (and no 
indication of inferior), which are : slender in all but the seventh 
vertebra, where they are thick and truncated; and this is 
the only vertebra that has the upper part distinct from 
the bony crest. The ear-bone is very like that of Hubalena. 
The sternum is oblong, with two or three irregular tubercles at 
the side. The first rib, like the others, is simple. The blade- 


76 Miscellaneous. 


bone is triangular, rather wider than long. The acromial process 
is compressed, attenuated at the end, and bent outwards. 

The chief difference between the mass of the cervical ver- 
tebre and the specimen in the Sydney Museum, according to 
Mr. Krefft’s photograph, is that the lower process of the axis in 
that figure appears to be rather longer and narrower at the end. 

The mass of the cervical vertebrae in some respects resembles 
that of Balena mysticetus of the Arctic seas, but differs in 
being much more united. It differs from Caperea and 
Eubalena in having the lower lateral process of the second 
cervical vertebra well developed. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


On the Reproduction and Development of the Telescope-fish of 
China. By M. CarBonnrer. 


Tue telescope-carp (Cyprinus macrophthalmus, Bloch; in Chinese 
Long-tsing-ya) is a native of the fresh waters of China and Japan. Its 
conformation is remarkably anomalous. Its body is globular ; its 
caudal and anal fins are doubled ; its eyes project from two to five 
centimetres from its head; in fact the entire animal is the exact 
model of those fishes, hitherto regarded as chimerical, that we meet 
with in a great many Chinese paintings. This fish seems to me to 
be a monstrous goldfish, a monster designedly produced by means of 
processes of breeding (in which the Chinese are very clever), so 
powerful that the original anomaly has now become hereditary. 

I have already, in goldfish, met with analogous partial monstro- 
sities, especially the gemination of the caudal fin. M. G. Pouchet, 
in a note presented to the Academy on the 30th May 1870, notices 
a similar anomaly presented by two living specimens received by him 
from China; but hitherto, so far as I am aware, no one has had the 
opportunity of studying the variety of carp which I call telescope-fish. 

By the kindness of a relation, I received twenty-four specimens, 
all presenting the same modifications of structure; only three of 
these died, the remainder have recovered sufficiently to allow me to 
try to reproduce them since the first year. 

The globular form of the body of the animal renders its equilibrium 
extremely unstable, and it can swim only with difficulty ; hence, 
whilst its congener the goldfish effects its spawning by rubbing itself 
against aquatic plants, flexible bodies of little resistance, the 
telescope-tish seeks a firmer point of support, opposing a direct 
resistance to the impulse of the fins. It is at the bottom of the 
water, on the ground, that it rubs its abdomen. 

While the female acts thus in oviposition, the males, which are 
exceedingly ardent in fecundation, pursue her several together, push 
her with their heads, turn her over and roll her over and over, in- 
flicting upon her an actual punishment. 

_ Having deposited, in a basin containing 20 cubic metres of 
water, four fishes belonging to a first lot, about a month afterwards 
(on the 14th of September last) I saw the three males pursuing the 


Miscellaneous. (i 


female, roll her like a ball upon the ground for a distance of several 
metres, and continue this conduct, without rest or relaxation, for two 
days, until the poor female, who had not been able to recover her 
equilibrium for a moment, had at last evacuated all her ova. 

Being then obliged to suspend my observations, I returned a 
fortnight afterwards, and, carefully examining the surface and the 
edges of the basin, I had the satisfaction of discovering several 
little embryos, which swam with considerable difficulty, and which 
a more careful examination enabled me to recognize as the young 
fry of the telescope-fish. 

They had the same double caudal fin, and the same sinuosity of the 
upper part of the back ; but the eyes were not yet very prominent. 

Having brought them to Paris and observed them carefully, they 
furnished me with the following results. At its earliest age the 
telescope-fish has the elongated form of most of our young fishes ; 
the transparency of the body allows us to distinguish plainly the 
air-bladder, lodged in the upper part of the body, and the intestine, 
forming a right ‘angle, of which the apex is opposite to the bladder. 
So long as the embr yo lives at the expense of the umbilical vesicle, 
it swims easily and in a horizontal position; but subsequently the 
absorption of exterior aliment has for its result an abnormal and 
irregular development, which, in nearly half the specimens, causes 
a deviation from the normal position, and the animal holds itself 
vertically, sometimes with the head upwards, but most frequently 
with it downwards. The faulty position of the air-bladder and the 
too slight development of the fins neutralize the intluence of these 
directive agents; the want of equilibrium persists, the young animal 
can no longer seek its nourishment, and it dies in two or three days. 
I have scarcely been able to make them live for ten or twelve days 
by mixing triturated animal matter with the water of my aquaria. 
I have, however, no doubt that the rearing of the young fry which 
remain will furnish me with some new facts.—Comptes Rendus, 
November 4, 1872, tome lxxy. p. 1127. 


Additional Observations on Codiophyllum. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.RS. &e. 


More than one botanist has asked me for a specimen of Codio- 
phyllwm (described in the ‘ Annals,’ for August 1872), which they 
wanted to examine microscopically and to unravel the fibre. The 
very expression shows that I have not sufficiently explained the 
structure of this very curious plant; but I believed that Mr. Ford’s 
excellent figure would exhibit it better than I could explain it in 
words. ‘The frond of this curious Alga is not formed of continuous 
fibres interlaced together, but of a number of oblong rings of a cylin- 
drical tube, each gradually formed and all connected and anastomosed 
together, so as to form an expanded frond: each ring is separately 
formed ; and when complete it sends from a part of its surface a tube 
of the same form, size, and structure, which gradually lengthens, 
after a time curves back, and unites itself to the ring from which it 
sprung, thus forming another ring, and in time emitting a new ring 
from its surface in the same manner. 

Mr. Ford has attempted to show this development in his figure. 


738 Miscellancous. 


The Bell Collection of Reptiles. 
To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 
Oxford, Dec. 16, 1872. 

GentLEMEN,—With reference to the correspondence which has 
appeared in the recent numbers of the ‘ Annals’ relative to the Bell 
Collection of Reptiles, and with the view of enabling your readers to 
form a proper opinion upon the subject, I think it incumbent upon 
me to state :—that the negotiation for the purchase of the entire col- 
lection, on behalf of the Rev. F. W. Hope, was effected by myself 
with Prof. Bell in 1862; that an estimation of the extent of the 
collection and of the value thereof was made by Mr. 8. Stevens, the 
Natural-History Agent; that the purchase comprised 288 specimens 
of tortoises (either entire or shells), about 40 dried snakes and 
lizards, and 1065 reptiles of various kinds in spirits; and that the 
collection was immediately removed by Mr. Rowell to Oxford, where 
it was partially arranged during the last year by Dr. Gunther, of the 
British Museum. 

I am, Gentlemen, 
Your obedient Servant, 
J. O. Wxstwoop. 


Answer to Herr Ritsema’s ‘“* Note on Crinodes Sommeri” ge. 
By A. G. Butizr, F.L.S. &e. 


A simultaneous attack upon a new genus, in two different maga- 
zines, is calculated to impress one with the idea that the discoverer 
of the supposed error must have been anxious that his acumen should 
be widely recognized. As an answer to the entirely unwarranted 
supposition contained in the said paragraph, I need merely inform 
Herr Ritsema of one or two facts, which, had he studied my writings, 
he might have discovered for himself: Hubner’s ‘Sammlung’ has 
been almost constantly on my table for the last seven years ; and I 
know his figures as well as 1 know my own. 

I do not make a practice of hunting up every conceivable resem- 
blance in pattern between a new genus and those previously figured 
in works known to me; I content myself, at most, with a compa- 
rison of structure between closely allied forms*. 

I did refer in my paper to the genus Dudusa (inadvertently written 
Duduna), a group to which C. Sommeri probably belongst; I had 
examined two species of this genus, and therefore could speak with 
confidence of its relationship to Tarsolcpis. 

If Hiibner was not attached to the “type system” there is no 
reason why C. clara of Cramer should not stand as the type of the 
genus Crino quite as much as C. Sommer. 

* When describing Zarsclepis, I knew for certain that the structure 
before me was entirely new. I admit that I did not remember at the time 
that Iliibner’s Crino Sommeri was so similar in pattern; had I done so, 
I might have referred to it as a moth resembling mine in pattern, although 
clearly belonging to a different genus. 

+ The females of Dudusa have a zone of spatulate scales round the tail, 
but of only half the length of those in the males; the antenne are mode- 
rately pectinated, more so than in Crinodes ; but there are no tufts of long 
hairs at the base of the abdomen in either sex. 


Miscellaneous. * 79 


The remainder of Herr Ritsema’s remarks being to a great extent 
based upon suppositiéns, I shall content myself with answering his 
direct statements. He says that the anal tuft entirely covers the 
sexual organs ; this is not the case with any of the specimens which 
I have examined, whether of Crinodes, Dudusa, or Tarsolepis. 

As to the probability of a long curved brush of carmine hairs being 
concealed about the body of a Crinodes, it is to my mind more pre- 
posterous than it would be were our discussion respecting the iden- 
tity of the Philippine HLusemia bambusina and the South- American 
Limnas zoega, to suggest that the difference consisted in the Husemia 
having concealed the red spots towards the base of the wings*. 

If the size of the body is dependent upon sex, it is evident that 
C. Sommert must be a male; butas Herr Ritsema is avowedly work- 
ing principally with Mr. Snellen’s male, which agrees in all the most 
important characters with Hiibner’s figure, it does not signify to 
what sex the type of C. Sommeri belongs. It now seems highly pro- 
bable that Herr Ritsema actually has the Hiibnerian species, whilst 
it is more evident than ever that I have not. 

The inaccuracies stated to exist in Hiibner’s figures are easily ex- 
plicable when we know that figs. 1 and 2 represent the opposite 
surfaces of C. Sommeri, and that in fig. 2 hardly any of the inner 
margin is visible, so that it is impossible to decide whether it is 
waved or not. The mention of differences in the hind wings of fig. 1 
is mere carping. 

I have now no more to say on this subject until I have seen Hiib- 
ner’s type. If the two genera come from Java, they will probably 
add another to the numerous illustrations of mimetic analogy already 
on record; I shall not, therefore (until I have proof of some such 
interesting fact, by a comparison of the actual type with Javan 
specimens), encroach further upon the patience of the readers of 
this magazine. 


On a Mite in the Ear of the Ow. 


Prof. Leidy remarked that he had received a letter from Dr. Charles 
8. Turnbull, in which he stated that while studying the anatomy of 
the ear he had discovered in several heads of steers, at the bottom 
of the external auditory meatus, a number of small living parasites. 
They were found attached to the surface of the membrana tympani. 
Specimens of the parasite preserved in glyc erine, and a petrosal bone 
with the membrana tympani to which several of the parasites were 
clinging, were also sent for examination. These prove to be a mite 
or Acarus, apparently of the genus Gamasus. The body is ovoid, 
translucent white, about three fifths of a line long, and two fifths of 
a line wide. The limbs, jaws, and their appendages are brown and 
bristled ; the body is smooth or devoid of bristles. The limbs are 
from two fifths to half a line long. The feet are terminated by a 
five-lobed disk and a pair of claws; the palpi are six-jointed; the 

* In other respects these two insects are as much alike as in most cases 
of actual mimicry. 


80 . Miscellaneous. 


mandibles end in pincers or chele, resembling lobster-claws ; the 
movable joint of the chele has two teeth at the end; the opposed 
extremity of the fixed joint of the chele is narrow, and ends in a 
hook. 

Dr. Turnbull had seen the cattle killed, and was positive that the 
mites occupied the position in the ear of the steers while these were 
alive ; such being the case, the Acarus may be viewed as a parasite 
of the ox, and may be specifically named Gamasus auris.—Proc. Acad. 
Nat. Sci. Philad. 1872. 


The Horns of Antilocapra. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


The British Museum has purchased of Mr. E. Gerrard, junior, the 
skin of an adult male Antilocupra which was just developing the 
new horny sheath; and this was rather different from what, by ob- 
serving the horns in a more developed state, I had been led to 
expect. 

The core of the horns was covered with a thick skin, which in the 
dried state is black; but the apex is covered with a small conical 
sheath about 1? in. long and 7 in. wide at the base, hard and per- 
fectly horny, very like the horn of cattle. It is black, with a white 
acute tip about 3 in. long. 

The horny sheath of a more developed specimen brought at the 
same time has a similar hard horny tip; but the lower part of the 
horn is less solid and more evidently formed of felted, matted hair, 
which is more distinct and less compactly matted at its base or last 
developed part; so that it would appear that the skin of the core 
first develops the horny tip, and then the more spongy part formed 
of felted hair, 


Notice of a new and remarkable Fossil Bird, By O. C. Marsu. 


One of the most interesting of recent discoveries in paleontology 
is the skeleton of a fossil bird, found during the past summer, in the 
upper Cretaceous shale of Kansas, by Prof. B. F. Mudge, who has 
kindly sent the specimen to me for examination. ‘The remains in- 
dicate an aquatic bird about as large as a pigeon, and differing 
widely from all known birds in having biconcave vertebre. The cer- 
vical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrie preserved all show this character, 
the ends of the centra resembling those of Plesiosaurus. The rest 
of the skeleton presents no marked deviation from the ordinary avian 
type. The wings were large in proportion to the posterior extremi- 
ties. The humerus is 58-6 millims. in length, and has the radial 
crest strongly developed. The femur is small, and has the proximal 
end compressed transversely. The tibia is slender and 44:5 millims, 
long; its distal end is incurved as in swimming birds, but has no 
supratendinal bridge. This species may be called Jchthyornis dispar. 
A more complete description will appear in an early number of 
Silliman’s Journal. 

Yale College, Sept. 26th, 1872. 


THE ANNALS 


AND 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 


[FOURTH SERIES. ] 


No. 62. FEBRUARY 1873. 


XI.—Summary of Zoblogical Observations made at Naples in 
the winter of 1871-72. By E. Ray Lanxester, M.A., 
Fellow and Lecturer of Exeter College, Oxford. 


My chief object during a recent stay of some months in Naples 
was to commence a study of the general and histological de- 
velopment of Mollusca, with the view of ascertaining what 
significance is to be attributed to the various parts of their 
organization in the light of the “germ-layer theory,” recently 
extended with such convincing force by the admirable obser- 
vations of Kowalewsky from the Vertebrata to various groups 
of lower animals, such as the Vermes and the Insects. 

I propose now to give a very short statement of some of 
these observations, as well as of others made on some of the 
innumerable interesting forms of marine invertebrates with 
which the invaluable fishermen of Santa Lucia provided me. 


Development of Loligo. 


Since the time of K6lliker (1837) no contribution has been 
made to our knowledge of the development of Cephalopoda. A 
short note by Mecznikow on Sepiola contains very little and is 
not illustrated. I obtained eggs of Loligo first in January, and 
subsequently with tolerable regularity until April: they are 
better adapted for observation than those of Sepia. 

The structure of the ovary is very similar to that of a bird. 
The branched ovary contains eggs of all sizes enclosed in vas- 
cular capsules. ‘The basketwork marking seen on the ovarian 
egg is not a plication of the proper capsule, but of the surface 
of the vitellus, where it is in contact with the inner cellular 
lining of the capsule, which sends deeply penetrating ridges and 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 6 


82 Mr. E. Ray Lankester’s Zoological Observations 


villi into the growing egg. This cellular lining of the capsule 
grows very rapidly ; and its cells are continually being absorbed 
or fused into the vitellus, whence the increase of this in size. 
Some of the cells retain their form and are to be found floating 
in the complex vitellus thus built up. 

On attaining full size, the egg, having lost entirely tts 
large germinal vesicle, loses all the plications or basketwork 
of its vitelline surface, and escapes from its capsule, which 
remains on the branched ovary and undergoes a yellow dege- 
neration. Passing as a free ovoid homogeneous mass of com- 
plex yelk (protoplasm and deutoplasm, Van Beneden, com- 
bined) into the oviduct, the egg is fertilized ; and then at one 
pole a segregation of plastic yelk, or a germinal patch, occurs 
in the form of a thin disk or cap. This exhibits subsequently 
a faint nucleus and commences to divide into two, four, eight, 
&c. ares, marked out by intercrossing grooves. In some 
minor respects my observations differ from Kdélliker’s, who 
appears to have represented the segmentation as more regular 
than it is, and the resulting cells as becoming detached, which 
they do not. 

When this superficial layer of blastodermic cells has spread 
over an area relatively as large as would be inclosed by the cir- 
cumference of a half-crown drawn round the pole of a large hen’s 
egg, an exceedingly remarkable fact presents itself, which has 
not been observed before, and which has great importance in re- 
gard to the various theories as to the origin of the “ mesoderm,” 
or a portion of that layer. Outside the primitive segmentation- 
area (fig. 1P), and quite unconnected with it, appears a ring of 
very large pellucid nuclei, seven or eight in number (fig. 1D) ; 
they increase in number, and a second, third, and fourth ring of 
such large nuclei arise, till at last they spread over the whole 


egg. Meanwhile the cells of the segmentation-area spread by 


made at Naples in the winter of 1871-72. 83 


continual division at the free edge of the cap which they form ; 
and they grow over the large nuclei, which are thus seen to lie 
in a lower stratum of yelk than that along which the cap of 
cells from the primitive segmentation is spreading. Both the 
segmentation-cells and the large nuclei finally cover-in the 
whole surface of the egg as two distinct layers. This process 
I observed over and over again, and repeatedly observed that 
the large nuclei arise, each one separately, by segregation from 
the yelk-mass. They are products of free-cell formation, and 
as such of the very highest interest in relation to histogenetic 
doctrine. The cells which pass into the ovarian egg in such 
enormous numbers to swell its vitelline mass become so much 
altered and broken down that it is not possible to regard these 
large nuclei as descendants from them, though no doubt they, 
as well as the original egg-cell’s protoplasm and the fertilizing 
male element, have contributed to form an organic mixture,” 
if one may use the termy from which these free nuclei, as well 
as the polar segmentation-disk and nucleus, take origin. 

The large pellucid nuclei subsequently become branched and 
stellate ; whether they give rise to the whole of the elements 
of the layer immediately below the outer segmentation-layer it 
is not possible to say. If they do, contractile muscular cells 
must be regarded as one of their products. In any case they 
form the great bulk of the subepidermal tissue, that which cor- 
responds with the mesoderm of vertebrates. 

Organs now begin to appear as thickenings on the sur- 
face of the blastoderm: two eyes (the details of the primitive 
development of which are remarkable), two ears (which I 
repeatedly saw in their primitive state as two pits, holes, or 
in-pushings of the surface ; subsequently they present the con- 
dition of capsules, each with a narrow canal opening on the 
surface of the head, which canal becomes eventually the little 
ciliated cecum seen by Kélliker), and a median semicircular 
primitive mouth; besides these the mantle and arms—the 
position of the latter marking off the blastodermic sac into two 
parts, a great yelk-bag, and a smaller embryonic sac, which 
gradually becomes more and more distinctly pinched off and 
shaped out. It is not possible to say much of the further de- 
velopment without illustration ; but I must mention two very 
important facts. The primitive semicircular mouth is not the 
real mouth. Itis at this point that an inward cellular growth 
commences, which eats its way into the mass of homogeneous 
yelk lying in the embryonic portion of the blastodermic sac, 
and meets (how or where exactly my observations do not show) 
a shorter ingrowth from the anal aperture, in connexion with 
which is also developed the ink-bag, thus agreeing with the 

GF 


84 Mr. E. Ray Lankester’s Zoological Observations 


renal organ of Gasteropods. The first portion of the alimentary 
tube (which early appears in connexion with the primitive 
semicircular mouth) becomes the yelk-duct. The primitive 
mouth sinks into the yelk-bag, by the growth of its margins, 
in a peculiar manner ; and there appears at some distance along 
the primitive alimentary tube a new mouth. It seems desirable 
to speak of these apertures as primitive and secondary mouth, 
for the sake of description; but it is a possibility that the 
primitive mouth must be considered identical with the aper- 
ture of blastodermic invagination of many Vermes and of 
Amphioxus, discovered by Kowalewsky, and observed also by 
me in several mollusks (Nudibranchs, Limax, Pisidium, 
Mytilus). 

The second fact of especial interest in the later development 
of Loligo is the occurrence of an in-pushing from the surface 
in the form of a groove just below (that is, posterior to) the 
margin of each eye. A somewhat botryoidal mass of tissue is 
the result of this ingrowth, and gives rise, I believe (though I 
have not definitely followed out its growth), to the optic gan- 
glion on each side. Lateral masses of tissue are seen to dif- 
ferentiate below the surface on either side of the cesophagus, and 
extend to the eyes—which may become ultimately other parts 
of the nervous system. The heart and large vessels develop 
below the surface, also without any remarkable features. The 
development of the mantle, gills, and cartilaginous skeleton 
was accurately described by Kolliker. 

The “pen” or shell of Loligo develops in a follicle which 
begins to form at a very early period, and remains open 
to the surface of the mantle until the embryo is nearly ready 
to leave the egg-case. 

An interesting phenomenon is the contractility of the walls 
of the yelk-sac, which is observed at a very early period, as 
soon as the first rudiments of eyes, ears, and mouth have 
appeared. A rhythmic wave of contraction passes continually 
along the wall of the sac, at that part immediately in front of 
the alimentary tube, and doubtless acts so as to cause a circu- 
lation of nutrient material in the direction of the young embryo. 
The tissue which exhibits this contractility is of the same 
structure (stellate cells) as that of the remarkable contractile 
vesicle observed in the Pulmonate Gasteropods, and which I 
have studied in Limax. It is probable that the two parts are 
homogenous. 

I should mention that I made frequent examination of eggs 
of Sepia, but found those of Loligo the best fitted for study. 
I was unable to obtain Argonauta at Naples; it is to be had 
in quantity at Messina. 


made at Naples in the winter of 1871-72. 85 


P Development of Aplysia. 


The development of two species of Aplysia was studied in 
considerable detail as far as the completion of the velum- 
bearing embryo and its escape from the egg-jelly. Various 
devices failed of enabling me to observe the later development 
of this or of several Nudibranchs which were also kept for 
study. 

The Aplysie were :—a larger species, in which each capsule 
in the egg-coil contained from thirty to forty embryos ; and a 
smaller species, in which the number was not more than seven, 
usually less. ‘The germinal vesicle escapes previously to yelk- 
cleavage as the ‘“ Richtungsblischen ;”’ the egg then divides 
into two larger yellow masses and two smaller pale balls. The 
pale balls now divide rapidly, and grow over and enclose the 
larger yellow masses. By a process of multiplication (which 
I could not satisfy myself was accompanied in Aplysia by 
invagination, though there were indications of such a mode of 
growth) the pale cells give rise, not to a single layer of cells 
enclosing the yellow, but, at the pole whence they started, 
to a considerable mass or thickness of cells. The deeper 
of these work themselves in between the two large yellow cells 
and give rise to the alimentary tract ; the outermost cells form 
epidermis, nerve, and shell-gland, whilst an intermediate por- 
tion gives rise to muscles. 

In the two species, however, there is a very curious difference: 
for in the larger species the two yellow cells almost as soon as 
they are enclosed lose their nuclei and definite outline, becoming 
mere granular masses, which the deep layer of pale cells rapidly 
invest and attach to themselves in an intimate manner; whilst 
in the small species the two yellow cleavage-masses, each with 
its large bright nucleus, retain their form to the last (that is, 
as long as I studied the embryos), the deep pale cells (hypo- 
derm, Darmdriisenblatt) only passing between the two masses, 
and growing by absorption of the matter which they yielded, 
as was evident by their gradual thinning out and shrinking, 
but without being invested or themselves undergoing any for- 
mative changes. The liver-mass, and perhaps the genital 
glands, subsequently appear in the position occupied by these 
two big cells, probably growing out nto them, not from them. 

An important fact is the occurrence of cilia on tracts of the 
pale cells, lying deeply within the segmentation mass ; this I 
have also seen in the eggs of Pisidiwm pusillum. 

The shell-gland is the first organ to appear in Aplysia, as 
it is also in the freshwater Lamellibranch Pistdiwm, and occurs 
as a groove on the surface, the cells in which take on a special 


86 Mr. E. Ray Lankester’s Zoological Observations 


development. It is in this way also that the “‘cuttle-bone” of 
Loligo takes its origin; and from the observation of this common 
mode of origin of the shells of Lamellibranchs, Gasteropods, 
and cuttlefish, I do not doubt that they are fundamentally 
identical or homogenous—that is to say, have a common an- 
cestral representative. The pharynx and cesophagus early 
develop in Aplysia as in-pushings at the opposite pole to that 
at which the shell-gland appears, which latter is the pole of 
active segmentation in the first embryonal changes. 

The supracesophageal ganglion is clearly seen to develop as 
a thickening of the outer layer of cells in the prostomial region. 
It sends branches downwards and forwards, and gave rise to 
the suspicion that the subcesophageal nervous mass was but a 
lobe of it. 

Below the mouth, in a blunt process (which is the foot) the 
pair of otolithic sacs (or otocysts, as M. de Lacaze-Duthiers 
terms them) appear; I took great pains to ascertain their 
earliest beginning. They certainly never communicate with the 
exterior ; they have been erroneously supposed to do so in 
Gasteropoda; and I have established the fact that they really do 
soin Cephalopoda. The first appearance of each otocyst is, 
before any organs except the shell-gland are indicated, as a 
faint vesicle, with no proper walls of its own, just below the 
most superficial layer of cells ; and I believe that it really be- 
longs to that layer. As the foot develops, the otocyst shifts 
greatly its position, and acquires thicker walls and larger size. 
The otolith develops within the cyst at a late period; often it 
may be seen in one cyst and not in the other. 


Development of Nudibranchs. 


The eggs of species of Doris, of Tethys, Pleurobranchus, and 
others were frequently studied. I found those of Polycera 
quadrilineata and of Holis exiqua the most favourable for study. 
I was able to determine in these that the first step in develop- 
ment, after the formation by cleavage of the mass of embryo- 
cells or “polyblast,” is the invagination or in-pushing of these 
cells at one pole, just as Kowalewsky has drawn it in Amphi- 
oxus and Phallusia, and as seen also in the Heteropod mollusk 
Atalanta. The orifice of invagination is at one time large and 
obvious enough, but closes entirely at a very early period. 
The same invagination and orifice I have made out in the 
Lamellibranch Pisidiwm, the development of which I studied 
in the spring of 1871 at Jena. I also observed it in Limaz ; 
and its occurrence in a similar stage in certain marine Lamel- 
libranchs is clear from Lovén’s admirable figures, though he 
has mistaken its significance. 


made at Naples in the winter of 1871-72. 87 


Hence the two primitive layers of cells in the embryo mol- 
lusk have the same origin as in Vermes and Vertebrata; and, 
indeed, it would appear that the whole animal series above the 
Protozoa agree in possessing these two primitive layers at one 
time of their development. The addition to these of a third, 
intermediate layer, or mesoderm, is the distinguishing feature 
of another great branch or stem (Triploblastica), which has as 
its base the Vermes, and from which diverge the Mollusks, the 
Arthropods, the Vertebrates, the Echinoderms. That branch 
which retains but two layers of cells through life, the endoderm 
and ectoderm, includes the corals, polyps, and sponges (Diplo- 
blastica). So far biologists seem to have arrived at very 
promising results with the germ-layer theory. The great diffi- 
culty at present lies in the question, Whence doesthis third layer, 
or mesoderm, originate? There are a number of conflicting 
replies to this question, which have yet to be reconciled. 


Development of 'Terebella nebulosa. 


An abundant supply of the eggs of this annelid enabled me 
to follow its development as far as its opacity permits. A 
delicate chorion forms round the egg after segmentation, on the 
surface of the cleavage-cells, which are densely ciliated. I ob- 
served that the chorion could be caused to separate from the 
surface of the cells; and the cilia were then seen to be really 
processes of the protoplasm of the cells, and to perforate this 
cuticular exudation, since they did not break off with it, as often 
happens, but were drawn through it, remaining fixed to the 
cells. The development of the ciliated tracts, segments, ap- 
pendages, and tubiparous glands was followed and drawn. 
The young of this species has no otolithic sac. 


Young Appendicularia furcata. 


Numerous specimens of this most interesting form were ob- 
tained in February. The recent memoir of Foll has given 
very full and accurate information on the anatomy of the Ap- 
pendicularie. I have still, however, something to add in this 
case with regard to the cutaneous glands and the cellular out- 
growths of the integument, and as to the heart. It is curious 
that no one has yet drawn attention to the very remarkable 
fact that the heart in A. furcata consists of but two cells—that 
is to say, two nucleated histological units. The small number 
of histological units which build up the organs of an Appen- 
dicularia is a very noticeable fact, and is parallelled in the case 
of the Rotifera. The elaboration, however, of so important an 
organ as the heart from but two units is quite unexampled. 


88 Mr. E. Ray Lankester’s Zoological Observations 


The heart as known and described is an oval pellucid body, 
with a dense mass at each pole. During 
life it beats with marvellous rapidity, quite 
unlike the action of a heart, and suggesting 
(what I believe it is) a form of protoplasmic 
movement allied to the ciliary. The mass 
at each pole of the oval heart is seen im spe- 
cimens about two thirds grown, when dilute 
acid is added, to be a nucleated cell. From 
each of these extends, not a contractile 
membrane (as would appear from the figures 
of Gegenbaur, Foll, and others), but from 
twelve to twenty fine processes or filaments 
joining one cell to the other, leaving open 
spaces between them. The rapid contractions 
of these processes of the cells, which are not 
unlike (except in being fixed at both ends) those pro- 
cesses known as cilia, agitate the blood in which the heart 
is suspended ; but there is no trace of blood-vessels connected 
with the heart. In specimens of Appendicularia furcata of 
full size the heart was seen to be a little more complex in 
structure; for at the base of each fibre or process of the 
two original large conical cells (which still retain their form 
and their large nuclei) is developed a small swelling with a nu- 
cleus (fig. 2). Moreover each of the fibres is now seen (when 
treated with picric acid) to possess a transverse striation, like 
that of the muscular fibres of the great tail or flabellum. I 
have specimens of Appendicularia furcata, treated with picric 
acid and mounted in glycerine, which exhibit admirably at 
the present moment this very remarkable structure of the 
heart. 


Histology of Sipunculus nudus. 


Every naturalist who visits Naples studies this very in- 
teresting and abundant worm more or less, and comes to a 
conclusion respecting its generative organs differing from those 
of his predecessors. [ can only briefly state on the present 
occasion the results of my study of this worm, as to the his- 
tology of which I have a mass of drawings and preparations. 

First, as to the corpuscles of the perivisceral fluid. ‘These 
are the pink corpuscles, the amceboid, the mulberry corpuscles 
of various sizes (usually regarded as testicular cell-masses), the 
ova, and the detached portions of the peritoneal membrane, and 
the ““Tépfchen” or ciliated globes. These last were especially 
studied recently by Brandt ; he did not ascertain their origin ; 
he is mistaken in his statements as to ‘‘cilie capitate.” The 


made at Naples in the winter of 1871-72. 89 


eilia of the “'Tépfchen” are in no wise peculiar. What he 
has supposed to be a head or knob on the end of the cilium is 
really nothing but the bending over of the extremity of the 
cilium under the influence of the dilute acetic acid which he 
used. I convinced myself time after time that the cilia of the 
Téptchen are perfectly normal, by study, with Hartnack’s 10 a 
immersion, of living specimens, and of others treated with 
osmic acid. By the use of acetic acid I obtained the knob-like 
appearance which deceived Alexander Brandt. 

Further I have found out the source of the ‘‘ Tépfchen.” 
They are to be observed in great numbers attached within the 
curious pair of tubes or vessels formed by duplicatures of the 
peritoneal membrane, which lie on each side of the cesophagus, 
and the connexion of which with the tentacle-crown was so 
well shown by Brandt in his memoir. They develop as “ but- 
tons ” on the cellular surface (fig. 3), which is throughout the 
perivisceral cavity provided in parts with patches of cilia-bear- 
ing protoplasm ; and then they become detached and swim off 
into the fluid. The whole history of this beautiful peritoneal 


Fig. 3. 


tissue and its shedding of elements into the perivisceral fluid 
is of extreme interest ; but I cannot go into it until my draw- 
ings can be given. So much for the Tépfchen at present. 
Next as to the ova. These occur of all sizes in the perivisceral 
liquid; and Brandt appears to have supposed that they take 
origin in it. Various zoologists have tried to establish this or 
that structure as the ‘‘ ovary.”” Some have assigned this nature 
to the pair of large brown tubes opening to the exterior, 
so paradoxical in character. MM. Keferstein and Ehlers 
mistook the unicellular cutaneous glands and some vagrant ova 


90 Mr. E. Ray Lankester’s Zoological Observations 


for the ovaries, which they actually located beneath the skin ; 
this view I must most fully oppose, as a special study of the 
integument of Sipunculus has shown me what structures these 
authors have mistaken for ova. Others, again, have taken the 
strange little diverticulum of the intestine placed near the rec- 
tum for the ovary, but without offering proof. I have yet a 
new view. I consider that the “ bush-like processes” de- 
scribed by Keferstein and Ehlers as occurring on each side of 
the rectum are the ovarian villi. These arborescent tufts are 
outgrowths of the cellular peritoneum and enclose the ova, 
which become detached when very small (3,455 inch), either 
in groups or singly, ensheathed in a portion of peritoneum, 
and proceed to grow to full size in the perivisceral liquid. The 
proof of this is in the structure of the villi, and in the structure 
of floating masses of minute ova occasionally to be found in 
the perivisceral liquid. The ova are detached from the villi 
probably at certain seasons and as soon as developed; hence 
I have never found the villi containmg unmistakable ova, 
when attached in place on the rectum. 

The mulberry spheres are certainly not, as supposed by Brandt, 
testicular. They have not the structure of such testicular mul- 
berry masses in Annelids ; for in these of Sipunculus I have 
made out what Brandt does not describe, viz. a membrane with 
a distinct nucleus enveloping the aggregated spherules. They, 
I believe, give rise to the abundant pink corpuscles of the peri- 
visceral fluid, and are, like the “ Tépfchen,” detached from the 
tentacular vessels originally. The true testis is still an open 
question. I found that the curious little diverticulum of the in- 
testine in several specimens examined in March had become 
greatly dilated, attaining a full inch in length ; and it was filled 
with a creamy fluid in which were a dense mass of motile fila- 
ments. It is possible that these were bacterioid parasites, but 
most unlikely when they recur in eight individuals examined 
within two days. There were further appearances of the develop- 
ment of these vibratile rods which tended to confirm the notion 
that the wall of this diverticulum of the intestine becomes the 
testis. On the other hand the structure of the great brown pair of 
tubes was very carefully studied ; and I found that they develop 
in their walls innumerable corpuscles which in spring (May) 
take quite the form of the Mammalian spermatozoon,and abound 
in immense number in the liquid filling the brown sacs. ‘The 
balance of evidence is on the whole in favour of the brown 
tubes being testes. At the same time let me mention that 
they become much dilated in May, and take into their cavity 
large quantities of the perivisceral fluid, and with it the floating 
ova, or the mulberry spheres, if they are present. 


made at Naples in the winter of 1871-72. 91 


I should mention that one fact in favour of regarding the 
mulberry spheres as testicular is that when they abound the 
ova appear to be absent, and vice versd. This is only apparently 
the case ; for [ have found numerous ova (though far less numer- 
ous in proportion than elsewhere) in Stpunculi in which the 
mulberry spheres were predominant, and I have noticed young 
stages of the mulberry spheres present when ova abounded. 
It should, however, be noticed that all the full-grown Sipun- 
culi (some eighty-five in number) which I opened were di- 
stinguishable as either “ ova-bearing ” or ‘ mulberry-sphere- 
bearing.” 

Brandt and, in earlier years, Krohn have been the supporters 
of the view that the mulberry spheres are testicular; but 
neither of them has seen the development of the component 
spherules of the spheres into tailed spermatozoa. Brandt states 
that he found in May, in a Stpunculus of the mulberry-sphere 
kind, tailed spermatozoa floating in the perivisceral fluid. But 
he admits that such spermatozoon-like bodies are developed in 
the brown tubes; and he has no evidence whatever to prove 
that those he found in the perivisceral fluid had not come thence, 
especially since he obtained the fluid by puncture and might 
thus have wounded the brown tubes. 

I must yet further mention with regard to the pink corpuscles, 
that I sometimes found them of large size and containing crystals 
—a fact not noticed by Brandt; also in May I noticed cases in 
which they were all very small, and in which only a few loosely 
aggregated mulberry spheres and no ovawere present. I believe 
that the reason why mulberry spheres and ova are reciprocally 
exclusive in the perivisceral fluid is this, that after the ex- 
pulsion of the ova a renewal of the pink corpuscles is necessary, 
and accordingly we get this development of mulberry spheres, 
destined to break up into young pink corpuscles. It is not until 
the spheres have fully developed and broken up into young 
pink corpuscles that a new development of ova takes place, by 
detachment from the rectal arborescent villi. The testis is either 
the tissue on the intestinal diverticulum or the brown tubes ; 
which of the two, my notes and drawings do not decide. 

The termination of nerves in the skin, the cutaneous glands, 
the minute structure of the nerve-chord, the structure and 
varieties of connective tissue in various parts of the worm, and 
the curious pink or red line on the intestinal wall, which is not 
a vessel, were examined, and will be described and figured on 
a future occasion. 

Brandt’s description of the perforate structure of the egg- 
envelope is perfectly correct. 


92 Mr. E. Ray Lankester’s Zoological Observations 


Anatomy of Sternaspis. 


Specimens of this interesting worm were from time to time 
brought to me by the fishermen. Its structure presents no 
special points of contact with the Gephyrea, but rather with 
the capitibranchiate polychetous Annelids, such as Pherusia, 
which certainly approach the Gephyrea in the condition of their 
segment-organs. ‘The closed vascular system contains hemo- 
globin in solution, and presents an internal series of gills, the 
structure of which is remarkable in many ways. It would be 
difficult to make any account of the details of its organization 
intelligible in this brief summary without illustration. 


Notochordal rudiments in Glycera. 


The observations of Claparéde on the “ drei riesige Réh- 
renfaden ’’ lying above the nerve-cord in Lumbricus induced 
me to search, by means of transparent transverse sections, for 
evidences of a skeletal or supporting arrangement of the con- 
nective tissue in immediate relation with the nerve-cord in 
other Annelids. The disposition of the muscles in relation to the 
sheath of the nerve-cord in G'lycera has some interest in this 
respect, since these parts are seen, in suitably prepared sec- 
tions, to have generally the same relations as have the muscles 
and neural sheath, including the notochord, of a vertebrate. 


Terebratula vitrea. 


These most beautiful Brachiopods were sometimes brought 
in quantities by the deep-sea fishermen. I was not able to 
obtain the ova in a developing condition. 

There are still many points in doubt with regard to the 
Brachiopoda, and especially as to the Terebratulidee. 

This species has not, I believe, been studied in the living 
state. A young specimen, of the size of a pin’s head, exhibited 
the ‘ arms”’ in a condition corresponding in general characters 
with the lophophore of a Polyzoon, with which Mr. Morse’s 
researches on Terebratulina also render it clear that the Bra- 
chiopod arms are homologous (homogenous). Let me also 
say here that a comparative study of the structure of the adult 
arms of Terebratula and of the gill-lamelle of Lamellibranchs 
leads to the conclusion that these are also homologous (homo- 
genous) structures. 

The observations of Mr. Barrett on Terebratulina, and of 
M. de Lacaze-Duthiers on Thecidiuwm, are the only ones at 
present, I believe, as to the condition of the “arms” of 
Terebratulide in the living state. 

The cirri are finely ciliated externally ; they are also in- 


made at Naples in the winter of 1871-72. 93 


dividually movable, though rarely moved. Lach cirrus 
corresponds in essential structure as to its tubular character, 
its horny and calcareous skeleton, and the circulation within 
it of the blood, with a tube of certain Lamellibranchs’ gills. In 
young Pistdium pusillum the gills originate as three (in- 
creasing in number) pairs of tubular processes. In young 
Anomia they equally retain their character as a series of 
isolated tubules ciliated on the surface. In young Terebratula 
vitrea I found nine pairs of tubular tentacles (wonderfully like 
the tentacles of a Pedicellina) ; and in the adult we have an 
immense series of them, which only require to become adhe- 
rent in order to give the essential structure of the Lamelli- 
branch’s gill-plate. 

The blindness in relation to the intestine of Terebratula 
vitrea is certainly in that Brachiopod’s rectum. ‘There is no 
anus, but a blunt cecal termination. 

I entirely failed"to convince myself that the organ regarded 
by Mr. Hancock as a heart really has the function of one in 
T. vitrea. \ repeatedly opened fresh specimens with rapidity, 
in order to witness its contractions, if any, but never saw such 
contractions ; nor could I find vessels in connexion with it, nor 
evidence that it had muscular walls. Dr. Krohn, of Bonn, 
had equally been unable to obtain evidence that this curious 
little dilatation has the function of a heart. 

The “ segment-organs”’ or oviducts (hearts of Owen) pre- 
sented a beautiful appearance in the living state, on account of 
their ciliation. It was possible to preserve them mounted in 
balsam and also in osmic acid. 

The ovaries, lying as they do on the inner surface of the body- 
wall (which is beautifully marked with calcareous spicula), may 
be readily studied in various stages of development. The testes 
are not known at present in any Brachiopod except the dicecious 
Thecidium. The red matter suggested by Hancock as possibly 
testicular in Zingula has its parallel in yellow matter which is 
abundant amongst the ovarian ova of Terebratula. ‘This yellow 
matter is clearly due to degeneration of the envelopes of escaped 
ova—is, in fact, a series of corpora lutea. 

I think it has not yet been clearly pointed out that the ova 
in Terebratula do not lie freely on the surface of the body- 
wall ready to drop into the blood-sinus (perivisceral cavity), 
into which the oviduct opens. Each ovum has really a very 
delicate connective-tissue envelope; and it is only upon bursting 
through that that it can escape. Sometimes the ovaries (in De- 
cember) contain comparatively large eggs, which are readily 
detached. In the spring, on the other hand, I found most with 
moderate-sized ova, but some with no ova at all. The ovarian 


94 Mr. KE. Ray Lankester’s Zoological Observations 


tracts in the latter specimens were obvious enough, since 
they form a reticulate arrangement of ridges, and the corpora 
lutea marked these tracts also; but no cells which were dif- 
ferentiated as ova were present. Some persons have been 
inclined to regard these specimens as males; but I consider 
this merely a temporary condition of the ovary. In some 
ovaries, at intervals, large white spherical masses containing a 
quantity of small cells were found; these were the most 
likely indication of testicular organs which I succeeded in 
finding. The appearances of the ovary in various conditions, 
and the structure of the mantle (in which I could not identify 
the numerous layers distinguished in Waldheimia flavescens 
by Mr. Hancock, in his great essay on Brachiopoda), require 
illustrations for a fuller explanation. 


Phyllirrhoé bucephala and Mnestra. 


Perhaps the most charming of all the objects which the 
Naples Bay affords to a zoologist of histological tendencies is 
the curious little fish-shaped mollusk Phyllirrhoé. Its trans- 
parency is perfect, at the same time that the tissue-elements 
present definite outlines. Its anatomy and histology are well 
enough known from Heinrich Miiller’s paper. The pulsating 
heart—lying in the small pericardium which communicates by 
a long partly ciliated tube (the representative of the organ of 
Bojanus) with the exterior—is an object of intense interest. 
It was easy to trace the connexion of the finest nerve-twigs 
with muscular fibres and with various peculiar corpuscles. 
Prof. Panceri discovered, whilst I was at Naples, that these 
corpuscles, as well as the nerve-ganglia, are phosphorescent. 

Krohn described, some thirty years ago, a medusoid which 
presents the remarkable character of being parasitic on Phyllir- 
rhoé. I obtained specimens of this, but have no indication of 
the way in which it becomes attached. The tissue of the me- 
dusoid’s disk appears to be fused at its middle aboral point with 
the tissues of the Phyllirrhoé. It cannot be removed without 
tearing, and always occurs just below the chin (if the term be 
allowed) of the Phyllirrhoé. I made out (and have drawings 
of) acircular and four radiating canals, four marginal tentacles, 
abundance of thread-cells, and a central chamber. 


Pyrosoma, Auginopsis, and Cercaria. 


Prof. Panceri and his assistants were carrying on their valu- 
able investigations on the embryology and phosphorescence 
of Pyrosoma whilst I was staying at Naples. In December we 
obtained a good supply of these most interesting 'Tunicates. 

I directed my attention chiefly to the early changes in the 


madeat Naples in the winter of 1871-72. 95 


»vum, but, owing to the interest which the later development 
also had for mg and the impossibility of keeping specimens 
alive, did not come to definite conclusions. ‘The germinal 
vesicle seems to disappear; and a cap of blastodermic cells 
appears at one pole of the egg, somewhat as in Loligo. The 
changes in the mass of the yelk whilst this goes on are re- 
markable, and lead to the formation of corpuscles, which appear 
to circulate subsequently in the embryonic blood-system. I 
can confirm (if confirmation be wanting) Professor Panceri’s 
and Pavesi’s description of the heart and mouth of the cyatho- 
zooid, and its mode of connexion with the four ascidiozooids. 
Professor Panceri’s recently published figures (Academy of 
Naples) are excellent.. The colonial muscular system described 
by Panceri (see ‘Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci.’ Jan. 1873) was also 
examined ; and I repeated the experiments which he had just 
carried out, leading to the determination of certain granular 
masses on the sides,of the pharynx as the phosphorescent 
organs of Pyrosoma. 

Eginopsis was found on one occasion in some water taken 
from the surface. The structure of the arms was not given by 
Johannes Miiller so fully as examination with a no. 10 Hart- 
nack now allows. 

Cercaria echinocerca was obtained and drawn from examina- 
tion with the 10 immersion on several occasions. It is re- 
markable for the flattened seta-like processes of the integument 
of the tail. 


The Parasite of the Renal Organ of Cephalopoda. 


Dicyema sepie and D. eledone were first described by 
Kolliker. Claparéde afterwards found a species in the Hledone 
norvegica, and referred Dicyema to the ciliate Infusoria. 
Subsequently Guido Wagner described D. sepie and D. ele- 
done in more detail than his predecessors. 

There is probably no stranger parasite than the Dicyema. 
The renal organ of most Seprw may be said to be literally 
made up of these organisms in all stages of growth. They 
are clearly not Infusoria, but adegraded form of worm, being mul- 
ticellular in structure. They are, when typically grown, thread- 
like bodies one third of an inchin length. There is no mouth, 
but an axial tissue of scattered stellate cells, which is clothed 
with large epithelial scales: these are at one time all ciliated ; 
but after full growth the cilia only remain about the head, 
The head is indicated by a knob, on which the epithelial scales 
are very regularly disposed in two series. It is rare to find a 
large Dicyema with this head well developed—the reason being 
that the animals are continually dividing transversely, and a 


96 Mr. E. Ray Lankester’s Zoological Observations 


complete head with its symmetrically arranged scales never 
grows at the surface of fission, but only a partially formed ill- 
shapen head with two or four scales. 

In addition to transverse division, Dicyema reproduces by two 
kinds of internally produced embryos, as pointed out by pre- 
vious writers. One kind is like the long worm-shaped parent ; 
the other is oval, and ciliated at one extremity. No one has 
succeeded in following out what becomes of this latter “infu- 
sorian-like embryo ;’’ but the embryos resembling their parents 
clearly grow up to the reproductive state within their host’s 
kidney, and are to be seen in all stages. 

I have made out, and hope to figure hereafter, the mode of 
formation of these two kinds of embryos, which differs con- 
siderably in the two cases. ach originates from a single 
nucleated cell, which multiplies. Those cells, however, which 
grow into infusorian embryos are contained at first in an oval 
capsule or space, twenty or so together, and escape from this 
capsule to undergo development in the axial tissue. The 
worm-like embryos, on the contrary, arise from single cells 
scattered at intervals in the axial parenchyma, which do not 
at first present any special characters. 

Dicyeme which are developing infusorian embryos do not 
at the same time develop worm-embryos. No trace of male 
reproductive organs is to be seen in these organisms. ‘Their 
structure admits of the most complete investigation, on account 
of their small size and transparency. 


New type of Infusoria. 


Among some eggs of Terebella, associated with other Infu- 
soria, I found several specimens of an altogether novel type. 
The general form was oval ; above the mouth projected a small 
cephalic tubercle ; round this oral extremity was raised up a 
large collar or ruffle, which continually opened and shut with 
a slight spiral twist, and caused the locomotion of the animal, 
whilst at the same time food was brought into the region of 
the mouth. This membranous vibratile collar or ruffle may be 
compared to a blended crown of cilia. It forms one of the rare 
examples of undulating membranes, similar to that of Undulina 
(parasitic in the frog’s blood, ‘Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci.’ October 
1871), where, however, the membrane is in the form of a crest, 
and not of a collar as here. 

There is not a trace of a cilium on any part of this infuso- 
rian, the whole work being done by the vibrating collar. 

It is obvious that this form cannot be placed in any one of 
Stein’s divisions of ciliate Infusoria, but must stand alone. 


made at Naples in the winter of 1871-72. 97 


Gregarina sipuncull, 


I may refer heve to a paper in the ‘Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci.’ 
October 1872, in which I have described some facts relating to 
the development of this form, and figured the pseudo-Navicula 
or spore-form, the Moneran, pseudo-Cercarian, and Gregarina- 
forms of this parasite. 


Spectroscopic Observations. 


Numerous observations with the spectroscope on a variety 
of animal colouring-matters gave the following results. 

Hemoglobin is present in the nerve-cord of Aphrodite acu- 
leata, alSo in its pharyngeal muscular tissue, in muscles of the 
dorsal fin of Hippocampus, in muscles of the pharynx of various 
mollusks, in corpuscles in the blood of Solen lequmen, in cor- 
puscles in the perivisceral fluid of Glycera, of Capitella, of 
Phoronis hippocrepia, and diffused in the perivisceral fluid of 
Polia sanguirubra. 

No characterizable absorption-bands could be obtained from 
the blue pigment of Velella, from the b/ue pigment of Salpa 
democratica, or from the red pigment of other Sa/pe, from the 
red pigment of the foot of Cardium and other Lamellibranchs, 
or from the red pigment of chromatophores of Loligo and other 
red pigments of fish, &c., or from the madder-pink pigment 
of the corpuscles of the perivisceral fluid of Sipunculus. 


I cannot conclude this summary without pointing out how 
great an advantage will be gained by zoologists in the station, 
now nearly ready for work, which my friend Anton Dohrn has 
erected on so magnificent a scale, by the devotion of his 
private fortune and much energy and patience. It stands in 
the Villa Reale, on the sea’s edge ; and there the naturalist will 
not have to dispute and bargain with the intelligent but 
rascally fishermen; all will be managed for him by the 
employés of the station. Further, he will have the use of a 
splendid library*, he will be able to keep his specimens with 
ease in the tanks of the station, supplied with streams of sea- 
water, and will have constantly the means of contemplating, 
even when he may not wish to study minutely, those exquisite 
forms which came in hundreds through my hands, but of which 
I have here said nothing, with which the waters of the bay 
are teeming. 


* I take this opportunity of asking for contributions of zoological and 
botanical books or papers to the library of the Naples station. Several 
publishers in Germany have given valuable works; the Messrs. Engelmann 
of Leipzig have presented the whole of their biological publications, 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 7 


98, Dr. J. E. Gray on the Geographical 


XII.—On the Geographical Distribution, Migration, and Oc- 
casional Habitats of Whales and Dolphins (Cete). By Dr. 
J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


Damprer long ago observed that seals did not occur within 
the tropics ; and Capt. Maury, in his Whale-Charts, shows that 
the Sperm-Whale inhabits a belt of sea in or on each side of 
the tropics in the Atlantic and another in the Pacific Ocean, 
which was avoided by the Right Whales as if it were a belt 
of fire. Both these observations are correct in the main— 
though a seal has been found in the West Indies, and some 
Humpbacked Whales inhabit near Bermuda, and they and the 
Finner off the coast of Brazil. The Sperm-Whale wanders 
away from its usual habitat, to its own destruction, on both 
sides of the tropical belt, and is carried by currents lke the 
eulf-stream as far north as Shetland and Norway, and very 
likely as far south in the Antarctic Ocean. 

This observation about the tropics is important, as showing 
that the whales of the northern seas must be of different species 
from those that inhabit the southern oceans; and the examination 
of the animals, and especially of their skeletons, has shown the 
truth of this fact, which is universal as far as I have been able 
to examine and compare the bones of the Whalebone- Whales, 
Dolphins, and Ziphioid Whales of the northern and southern 
hemispheres, and seems also to show that each species has 
defined limits. 

Most whalers, in their writings, state that the whales visit 
their usual fishing-grounds at stated periods, and inhabit.certain 
bays during their breeding-season, showing that they make 
migrations, each species within its own district, 

Whales and dolphins always inhabit. sheltered bays during 
the breeding-season; and, the Whalebone-Whales generally 
live in shallow water, not very far from the shore or over 
sunken banks. 

Unfortunately our knowledge of these animals is very incom- 
plete, as, the observation of them being attended with so many 
difficulties, we have very imperfect accounts of the his- 
tory and habits of the species which inhabit the North and 
South Pacific, the South Atlantic, and. the Indian Ocean. 
Indeed it is only within the last few years that the species of 
these seas have begun to be studied and determined. Before 
that period they were confounded with the whales of the North 
Atlantic, and included under general names (as Right Whales, 
Finners, Humpbacks, Scrag-Whales, and Sulphur-bottoms) 
which are now found to represent so many families or genera, 


The study of the whales and dolphins of the North Atlantic’ 


Distribution of Whales and Dolphins. 99: 


exhibits their geographical distribution and migrations, natural 
or accidental, which give us some idea of what may be the 
case with the whales of the other parts of the world, where 
they are perhaps better developed than in the North Atlantic ; 
for there can be no doubt that commerce and, more especially, 
steamboats in the North Atlantic have driven the northern 
species further back and confined them more to the Arctic 
regions, have destroyed many individuals, and limited the 
breeding of the Mediterranean species and of those which in- 
habit the southern districts of the North Atlantic, and that 
several species that are now only found in a subfossil state, 
imbedded in the alluvial soils of Sweden, Holland, and the 
coasts of England, were formerly inhabitants of these seas. 

The species that are now found in the North Atlantic may 
be divided into :—first, those that inhabit the Arctic seas and 
migrate or are accidentally brought south; secondly, those 
which chiefly live and are bred in the Mediterranean, or in the 
bays of the southern parts of the North Atlantic, and which 
migrate and follow the shoals of fish towards the north. There 
are no doubt some species, as the common Porpoise, the Pike 
Whale, the common Finner, and the Goose Whale (Hype- 
roodon), that breed in the middle district (on the coasts of 
Germany, Holland, and Great Britain), and are found! in the 
more northern and more southern seas. On the other hand, 
the Ziphius Sowerbiensis has been found in the German Ocean 
only in its southern part and off the north coast of Scotland, 
but is most abundant on the west coast of Ireland, belonging 
as it does to a Mediterranean group (though not yet observed! 
in the Mediterranean) and perhaps only carried north by the 
Gulf-stream. 

Some species are essentially Arctic, as the Beluga and the 
Monodon ; but even they are sometimes driven south, perhaps 
by storms. Others, as the Pilot Whale, always proceed south 
in large “ schools :” some keep on the west side of the North 
Atlantic and go to the east coast of America; others keep on 
the east side and are found on the west coast of Europe, the 
east and west coasts of great Britain, the coasts of France 
and Spain, and some in the Mediterranean; but the Medi- 
terranean species is generally smaller and may be distinct. 
The voracious and destructive Orca, or Killer, lives in smaller 
groups, and seems to follow the same course as the Pilot 
Whale; that is to say, Orce are found, in the Arctic and other 
seas, as far south as the Mediterranean ; and, like the Pilot 
Whales, the southern specimens are much the smallest. I 
determined that we had two species of Killer on the British 
coast; and by a photograph sent me. by the Royal Academy of 

7# 


100 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Geographical 


Sweden I see they have discovered and recognized my second 
species in Swedish seas, showing that both the British species 
probably migrate from the north. The skull of the Mediter- 
ranean Orca, though so much smaller, is very like those of the 
Arctic and British ones. 

The Grey Finner (Cuvierius) is doubtless a northern species 
that sometimes comes south; but one is not so certain of the 
Broad-headed Whale (Rudolphius) and the gigantic Flat-back 
(Stbbaldius), which have only been found so seldom in the 
south part of the North Sea or German Ocean that it is im- 
possible to say if they are northern or southern species. At 
any rate we may make sure that an animal upwards of one 
hundred feet long does not breed in the much-frequented 
German Ocean ; and neither genus has been discovered in the 
Arctie Ocean or in the Mediterranean sea. Perhaps they are 
the last remains of their race. 

Thus the Dolphin (Delphinus delphis), the Grampus 
(Grampus Cuviert), and the Petrorhynchus mediterraneus, 
which are essentially Mediterranean species, following the fish 
out from Gibraltar, come north down the coasts of Spain and 
France, and impinge on the coasts of Hampshire, Devon, and 
Cornwall along with the pilchards and mackerel. Some pro- 
ceed to the left, up the German Ocean—and others to the right, 
either up the Irish Sea or the Atlantic Ocean on the west side 
of Ireland, and they have rarely been found as far north as 
Shetland or the coast of Norway ; but I am very doubtful if 
these animals, like the Sperm-Whales, ever find their way 
back. 

A kind of whale exists in the Bay of Biscay: and we are 
told that there was formerly a whale-fishery there ; but both it 
and the Basque fisheries have long passed away. A whale at 
distant periods has occurred, especially at the south-east corner, 
which is probably the most quiet part of this stormy bay. ‘The 
occurrence of a specimen is a proof of the existence of enough 
animals to carry on the race residing permanently in or occa- 
sionally visiting the bay ; for we may make sure that it is not, 
as some people seem to suppose, a spontaneous reproduction or 
renewal of the species. 

In January 1854 a cow whale and its calf were observed in 
the Gulf of Gascony near San Sebastian : the calf was taken ; 
but the mother escaped. The skeleton was preserved in sepa- 
rate bones at Pampeluna; Eschricht obtaimed it by ex- 
change for the museum at Copenhagen; and Professor 
Reinhardt intends some day to describe and figure it. It is said 
to be quite different from the Greenland Whale; indeed Mr. 
Flower informed me that it is a Huntertus, with coarse whale- - 


Distribution of Whales and Dolphins. 101 


bone and a bifid first rib. It has been called, but not described 
as, Balena biscayensis by Eschricht. M. van Beneden has 
made a species under this name from the cervical vertebree of a 
whale found at Sainte Marguérite in the Mediterranean, the 
subtossil cervical vertebra dredged up at Lyme Regis, and the 
ear-bones of the Balena cisarctica from the coast of North 
America (!), never having seen either the skeleton at Copen- 
hagen or a figure of it; and itis easy to see by the comparison 
of the two cervical masses, which he gives on the same plate, 
that they do not belong to the same species. It was possible 
that this might be the same whale that occurs at Sainte Mar- 
guérite in the Mediterranean, or might be the same as that 
found at Lyme Regis, as that is consistent with what we know 
of the habits of whales ; but we have proof of its not being so ; 
and it is not the one found in America, if Mr. Flower’s note is 
correct. 

The Arctic whales and dolphins on the western coast of the 
Atlantic are numerous; Dr. Brown mentions two or three 
Right Whales. Some of these migrate southwards down the 
east coast of North America; and it is to be observed that some 
of the Arctic species inhabit that side of the Atlantic which are 
not found at all, or only as stragglers, on the north coast of 
Europe. Some species, as Beluga, go much further south on 
the coast of Labrador and Nova Scotia than they do on the 
coast of Europe. 

There were formerly whale-fisheries on the southern parts 
of the west side of the Atlantic ; but, like those in the Bay of 
Biscay, they no longer exist, the whales having been destroyed 
or driven away by commerce. The south-western part of the 
North Atlantic has forms peculiar to it, as is the case on the 
eastern side; for as yet the Ziphioid Whales, the Grampi, 
Delphinus, &e. have not been observed on the American coast, 
nor does the Serag-Whale (Agaphelus) occur on the coast of 
Europe. This is very inconsistent with the theory that the 
whales of the same species inhabit a belt across the Atlantic 
and other oceans, each species occurring in a peculiar locality. 

In the first volume of the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ (for 
1665, p. 11) there is an account ‘‘of the New American W hale- 
fishing about Bermuda;” and at p. 132 there is “a further 
Relation of the Whale-fishing about the Bermudas and the 
Coast of New England and New Netherland ;” and it appears 
that there then existed a Bermuda Company. ‘The writer ob- 
serves, “these whales are met with between the coast of New 
England and New Netherland, where they might becaught eight 
or nine months in the year, whereas those about the Bermudas 

- are to be found there only in the months of February, March, 


102 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Geographical 


and April.” He particularly refers to the“ Trumpo,” which 
is evidently the Sperm-Whale, one of which he says was 
stranded in New England. 

The Hon. Paul Dudley, in the ‘Philosophical Transactions ’ 
for 1724 (p. 256), writes an ‘Essay on the Natural History 
of Whales . . . . found on the Coast of New England.” 
He says he is particularly debted to Mr. J. Coffin, some time at 
the island of Nantucket, and Mr. Greenhouse, of Yarmouth near 
Cape Cod, both of them places famous for the whale-fisheries. 
These fisheries have now disappeared, the fisheries being now 
carried on in the South Seas. He mentions :— 

1. The Right or Whalebone Whale, which is probably a 
true Balena. 

2. The Scrag-Whale. This is evidently the Agaphelus 
gibbosus of Cope, in character intermediate between the true 
Whales and the Fin-backs. It has no dorsal fins or throat-folds. 
This animal probably goes south, and is the “‘ Norwega”’ of 
Bahia mentioned by Dr. Hartt. 

3. The Fin-back Whale is most probably a Physalus; but 
the North-American Fin-backs have not been described. It 
may be the same species that goes south as far as Bahia; and 
they are called “‘ Mystica.” They first appear, according to 
Dr. Hartt, in the Abrolhos waters at the end of May, and stay 
until November ; the females often bring their young calves 
with them and seek the shelter of the reefs. 

4, The Bunch or Humpback-Whale is probably the JMega- 
ptera osphyia of Cope, described from a skeleton in the museum 
at Niagara, which he thinks is one of the largest species of 
Balenide, and may be the same as Megaptera americana of 
Bermuda. 

5. The Sperma Cete Whale. 

The same migrations or circummigrations appear in the 
southern part of the Atlantic and the southern seas. Dr. 
Dieffenbachinformsus that the Sperm- Whale, the Black Whale, 
the Finner, and the Humpback are found in Cook’s Straits in 
New Zealand. The Sperm-Whale inhabits the open sea and 
does not approach shallow coasts and inlets, as is the habit of 
the other whales. The Finner and Humpback are seldom 
captured, on account of their wildness and celerity ; and they 
contain only a small quantity of oil. Almost all the Black 
Whales caught are females and their calves; indeed it is the 
affection of the mother for her young that causes her sacri- 
fice, the young being taken to secure the parent. The male 
is very rarely caught; he never approaches the land so near 
as the female, and is more shy and wild. ‘The cows ap- 
proach the shallow coast and smooth waters for the purpose - 


Distribution of Whales and Dolphins. 103 


of bringing forth their young, and are generally accompanied 
by the calf of the preceding year, called a “scrag,” which does 
not leave its mother till it attains its full size. The Black 
Whale is truly a migratory animal; it arrives in Cook’s 
Straits from the northward at the beginning of May, then 
passes along the coast of the northern island to Entry Island, 
then sweeping into Cloudy Bay ; and then at the end of October 
they go to the eastward or return to the northward; and many 
whales are to be found in the ‘ whaling-ground” which 
extends from Chatham Island to the eastward of the north- 
ern island of New Zealand and thence to Norfolk Island ; 
and the whalers say this district is a shoal. Besides this 
migration, which rather ought to be,called a circumnavigation 
of a limited district, there exists a daily one; the whales ap- 
proach the shores and bays with the flood tide and quit them 
with the ebb; they are often seen in places where the depth 
of water does not exceed their own breadth (Dieffenbach’s 
Travels in New Zealand, vol. i. pp. 44-47). The whalers 
thought they were the same species that were found at the Cape 
of Good Hope, which are known to have similar habits, as 
also have the Black Whales at Van Diemen’s Land; but I 
now know, from the examination of the skeletons, that there 
are two Black Whales in New Zealand, both of which are 
quite different from the two Black Whales that inhabit the Cape 
of Good Hope. 

Mr. E. Hartt, in his ‘ Physical Geography of Brazil,’ ob- 
serves :— The first whales (Physalus brasiliensis, Gray) appear 
in the Abrolho waters at about the end of May, and they stay 
till October. The females often bring their young calves with 
them, and appear to seek the shelter of the rocks. The fishery 
begins at Bahia, according to Castelnau, at about the 13th of 
June, and lasts till the 21st of September ; at Caravellas I was 
assured the whales always appeared later than at Bahia.” 

Further south, the Finners in passing the Rio de la Plata 
ascend that river ; and Professor Burmeister has described from 
the skeletons of the whales in the museum of Buenos Ayres, 
obtained near that city, no less than three distinct species of 
Physalus (see Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1872, x. p. 413). 

Wherever there are whale-fisheries (as in Walvisch Bay 
near the Cape, Cook’s Straits at New Zealand, and Caravellas, 
and especially Bahia) the bones of the whales killed form large 
banks, as many as 500 to 1000 whales or more on the same 
spot (indeed in Walvisch Bay the bank is said to be. several 
miles in length), showing great destruction of these animals in 
these seas as well as in the northern ones. 


In the ‘Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist.’ 1870, vi. pp. 391-394, is 


104 Dr. J. Hector on the Whales and 


a list of the species of whales according to the countries in which 
they have been observed. 


XII.—Notes on the Whales and Dolphins of the New-Zealand 
Seas. By Dr. JAMES Hector, F.R.S. With Remarks by 
Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


1. Neobalena marginata, Gray. 


The tympanic bone of the type of this species in the Colonial 
Museum agrees exactly with the ear-bone on which is founded 
Caperea nove-zealandie, Gray (Cat. Seals & Whales, p. 101). 

Practical whalers, after examining the baleen of this whale, 
affirm that it is the Fin-fish or Sulphur-bottom, and that it 
grows to an immense size. It is not the Finner, which has 
a dorsal fin further back. They judge by the colour of the 

aleen. 


2. Eubalena australis, Gray. (The Black Whale.) 

Balena antipodarum, Gray. 

Whalers do not distinguish two species ; and if the tympanic 
bone of the second species cited belongs to Neobalena mar- 
ginata, there is no evidence that the Black Whale of New 
Zealand is different from that of the Cape. 


3. Megaptera nove-zealandie, Gray. 


This species is also founded on a tympanic bone. A whale, 
34 feet long, with a falcate dorsal fin, stranded in Wellington 
Harbour, has a similar ear-bone, and may be this species. 
The bones were unfortunately lost. 


4, Physalus australis, Gray. 
(The Southern Finner or Razor-back.) 


Physalus antarcticus, Gray. 


The only reason given for distinguishing the above is the 
colour of the baleen. Whalers state the baleen of the Finner 
to be very variable in colour, even from the same individual. 


5. Catodon macrocephalus, Lacép. (The Sperm-Whale.) 


Several varieties of teeth are in the museum, and must 
belong to different species. 


6. Delphinus nove-zealandie, Quoy & Gaim. 
A skull of this species in the museum has the intermaxillary 


Dolphins of the New-Zealand Seas. 105 


plates united, so as to form the nasal groove into a tube through- 
out two thirds of its length. 


7. Delphinus Forster’, Gray. 


A skull in the museum agrees in its dentition with this 
species. It differs from the preceding species in the greater 
proportional width of the beak and more perpendicular fore- 
head, the width of the middle part of the beak being con- 
tained four times in the length from the notch, while in D. nove- 
zealandie it is six times. 


8. Electra clancula, Gray. 


The generic character requires to be amended by leaving out 
the second dorsal lobe, which is not present in this species. 


9. Pseudorca meridijonalis, Flower. (Tasmanian Blackfish.) 


An imperfect skull found in Lyall Bay appears to belong to 
this species. 


10. Grampus Richardsoni, Gray. 
A lower jaw found on the Munawutu beach agrees with 


this, except that it has only three instead of four teeth on each 
side. 
11. Beluga Kingit, Gray. 
A very imperfect skull, in the collection of the late Mr. 
Swainson, appears to resemble this species. A large white 


Porpoise is frequently seen at certain seasons in Blind Bay, 
and may be this species. 


12. Globiocephalus macrorhynchus, Gray. 
(New-Zealand Blackfish.) 


Several skulls, more or less perfect, are in the museum, one 
from the Chatham Islands. 

The same trivial name (Blackfish) is also applied to a 
small species of Sperm-Whale. 


13. Epiodon chathamiensis, sp. nov. 


Beak of skull tapering, callous, with a slight upward curve. 
Vomer forming a posteriorly truncate callous ridge, depressed 
between the intermaxillaries. Upper jaw toothless. Lower 
jaw elongate, bent up, truncate, with two terminal, short, sub- 
cylindrical teeth in shallow sockets, and in front of a long 
dental groove. 


106 Dr. J. Hector on the Whales and 


Skull: Chatham Islands (coll. G. H. Travers). 
Weight of teeth 817 and 836 grains. 


inches. 

Total lengtg ieee acanicedahen? oa 36 
WY athe: aks Ue eal coos che. wiain pte hates 20 
BATE LN Ld Coch i Ok GUS 12 
NETL OL IRE ins, ask otc ofa & Rn 18 
re, MEBANE OULU ec cite ks os seas Batu 6 

Bil PEPOPICCAVIUY fhrccs oe cn sy bet 12 

ee mower jaws SC CEaS Cae Ge sot 30 
Heweht Of TAMUB 2... se EE ea 7 


The beak is trigonal, three times as long as the brain-cavity 
measured internally. The vomer is not observed in the profile 
as in Petrorhynchus capensis ; otherwise the general structure of 
the skull agrees with that species. The teeth are ground down, 
each with two lateral facets and a central ridge; as these 
teeth, when the mouth is. closed, are beyond the lower jaw, 
there is probably a callosity on the upper lip against which 
they are applied. 

Two teeth of another individual are in the museum, with 
triple facets. 

This species may be the same as Epiodon australis, Burm., 
of which I have no description. 


14. Mesoplodon Layardiv. 


Lower jaw with teeth: Chatham Islands (coll. G. H. 
Travers). 

Total length 33 inches ; symphysis one third of total length. 
Hinder edge of the teeth is 18 inches from the condyle; and 
their length along the jaw is 5 inches, the anterior margin 
being in advance of the commencement of the symphysis ; no 
notch on the edge of the jaw posterior to the teeth. The teeth 
are 6 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 2 inch thick. The acute 
point in the upper and forward angle is very marked ; there is a 
deep rough notch worn on the anterior margin ; and the com- 
pressed root of the tooth shows seven distinct fangs. The teeth 
are directed obliquely backwards and inwards, but do not 
approach so as to close over the beak, as described in the type 


of the species (Cat. Seals & Whales, p. 353). 


15. Berardius Hector’, Gray. (Scamperdown Whale.) 
Berardius Hectori, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. viii. p. 116 (August 
1871). 
Mesoplodon, sp., Flower, Nature, Dec. 7, 1871, p. 105. 
Teeth 5. Body fusiform; head rounded, beaked ; upper lip 
tong and flexible; eye haltway between angle of mouth and 


Dolphins of the New-Zealand Seas. 107 


pectorals, which are small; dorsal over the tail; tail-lobes 
large, faleate.—Know. 

Skall globular, with a slender conical beak. The intermaxil- 
laries form thin linear callous plates, incurved over a deep groove 
that extends back from the snout to the blow-holes, as in Dol- 
phins; they then expand to form a flat lunate area in front of 
the blow-holes, and rise behind to form moderate knob-like 
crests that are separated by a notch, owing to the feeble de- 
velopment of the nasals. ‘he maxillaries commence as lateral 
plates some distance from the top of the beak, but expand 
behind into slightly concave areas. The blowers are straight, 
vertical, and almost equally developed. 

Before I had seen Berardius Arnouxti I took this for the 
young of that species ; but it differs in the presence of crests 
over the blow-holes, feeble nasals, narrower beak, and more 
compressed teeth. 

The tympanic banes of the two species have a close resem- 
blance. 

A second, fragmentary skull, of exactly the same form and 
dimensions as that described above (see also Trans. N.-Z. Inst. 
vol. iii.), has been lately obtained in a sandy deposit near 
Wanganui. 


16. Berardius Arnouxii, Duv. 


Ziphioid whale with skull like a Porpoise. 

The specimen in the museum has the first three cervicals 
united, and the fourth united by the neural arch. 

The preceding species has the first two thoroughly united 
and the third by its spines; the rest are free, not united, as 
might be inferred from the description (Trans. N.-Z. Inst. ii. 
p- 129), where the term combined cervical vertebre referred 
only to the manner in which they are sketched. 


Remarks on some of the Species in the foregoing paper. 


By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


This paper was received from Dr. Hector yesterday morning 
(December 26, 1872). As it is marked “abstract,” probably it 
refers to a paper that he has sent to the New-Zealand Institute. 
He does not say, in his letter on other subjects which accom- 
panies it, what I am to do with it; but I suppose it is sent for 
publication in the ‘Annals,’ as others received in the same way. 

It contains many most valuable observations, and adds con- 
siderably to our knowledge of the Cetacea of the southern 
regions; it is very interesting as confirming the existence of 
the genera Grampus and Beluga in the southern or Antarctic 


108 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Whales and 


seas. It is accompanied by tracings of the skull of Epiodon 
chathamiensis, of the lower jaw of Mesoplodon Layardii, of the 
ear-bones (represented half the natural size) of Neobalena 
marginata, Megaptera?, Berardius Arnouxii, and Berardius 
Hector. 

1. Neobalena marginata. 


The discovery that the baleen named Balena marginata, 
and that the ear-bones on which I first established the genus 
Caperea, belong to this whale is entirely due to Dr. Hector; and 
I gladly accept the correction, although it has always appeared 
to me that the baleen is very narrow and long for a whale with 
such a broad upper jaw compared with that of the northern 
Right Whale; but that may be a peculiarity of the group. The 
combination of characters thus brought together indicates an 
entirely new group of whales, which I propose to call Neoba- 
lenide. 

The form of the skull and ear-bones is peculiar and very 
different from that of any known group of Cetacea; and I have 
always found that the characters derived from these parts are 
connected with peculiar modifications of the external form. 
The removal of the ear-bone of Neobalena from the family 
Balenide makes the character from that bone in that family 
as uniform as it is in the other families of Baleenoidea. In 
form and structure the whalebone is finer, but very similar 
to that of the Greenland Right Whale, and shows an affinity 
of this family to the Balenide ; but the structure of the head 
is more like that of the Physalide, as far as we can judge from 
the figure, never having had an opportunity of seeing the skull 
itself. The dilated character of the lower jaw is very peculiar, 
and no doubt characteristic. The face, or rather maxille and 
intermaxille, is broad for a whale having such long and slender 
baleen. 

We await the discovery and the description of the complete 
Neobalena with great anxiety. If it isthe Sulphur-bottom or 
Fin-fish it will be even more interesting, as removing that 
often-mentioned and hitherto undetermined whale from our 
books. 

The synonyms will therefore run thus :— 

Balena marginata, Gray, Zool. Erebus & Terror, p. 48, t. 1. f. 1 (baleen 

nly). 

es antipodarum, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1864, p. 202, fig.; Cat. Seals & 

Whales, p. 101, f. 9 (ear-bone only); part only of Suppl. Cat. 

Neobalena marginata, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1870, v. p. 221, vi. 

p. 155, figs. 1 & 2; Suppl. Cat. p. 40, figs. 1 & 2 (skull only). 


Tapplied the name of C.antcpodarum tothis species, believing 
it to be the Black Whale of New Zealand, of which Dr. Dief- 


Dolphins of the New-Zealand Seas. 109 


fenbach had brought such an accurate figure ; and I was con- 
firmed in thinking that it was the same as the skeleton from 
New Zealand which was in the Paris Museum, by the obser- 
vations of Milne-Kdwards, Professor Lilljeborg, and Van 
Beneden, who, though the skeleton had lost its ear- bones, 
seemed o feat no doubt that it was the skeleton of the whale 
the ear-bones of which I figured. I have never seen the 
skeleton myself; for when I was in Paris they considered the 
skeleton a duplicate of the one they had set up, and not 
worth my seeing. 

I think it better to retain the name of Neobalena for this 
genus. The genus Caperea, though first established on the 
ear-bone of this genus, has had its character enlarged by the 
study of the Paris skeleton ; and it would produce less change 
of name to retain Caperea for the whale the skeleton of which 
is at Paris ; otherwise we should have to form a new name for 
that genus ; but doubtless there will be some one who, wishing 
to append his name to a new-named old genus, will give it 
another appellation. 

As the specimen in the Paris Museum has lost its ear-bones, 
M. van Beneden has added to the figure of that skeleton the 
figure of some ear-bones, said to have come from New Zealand, 
in he Belgian Museum. Now,as there are at least two Black i 
Right Whales with very eu shoulder-blades that inhabit 
the seas of New Zealand, it is not possible to say to which of 
these species the specimens figured by M. van Beneden belong. 


2. EHubalena australis. 


There are at least two Black Whales in New Zealand ; and 
as yet I have no evidence that the Hubalena australis has been 
taken in New-Zealand seas. It is doubtful to which of the 
two Right Whales the animal figured by Dr. Dieffenbach really 
belongs. I applied to this figure the names of Balena antipu- 
darum (Dieffenb. New Zeal. t.1) and Balena antarctica (Voy. 
Erebus and Terror, t. 1); but as this has been applied to the 
skeleton of the New-Zealand whale in the Paris Museum by 
M. Milne-Edwards, Prof. Lilljeborg, my: self, and M. van 
Beneden in his ‘Ostéographie des Cétacés,’ I believe it will be 
better to retain it for that species. The form of the bladebone, 
which is different from that of all the other Right Whales 
known, is not likely to be connected with a change in the ex- 
ternal form of the animal. 

The synonyms will run thus :— 

Balena antipodarum, Gray, Dieffenb. New Zeal. tab. 1 (animal). 


Balena antarctica, Gray, Zool. Erebus & Terror, Cet. p. 16, tab. 1 (ani- 
mal, not Lesson nor Owen). 


110 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Whales and 


Caperea, antipodarum, Lilljeborg; Gray, Cat. Seals & Whales, p. 371, 
Suppl. p. 45 (not ear-bones). 

Balena antipodarum, Van Beneden, Ostéog. Cét. tab. 3 (skeleton; ear- 
bones doubtful). . 

The second Black Whale is Macleayius australiensis, a 
skeleton of which is in the British Museum (noticed in the 
Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1873, vol. xi. p. 75), and which is de- 
scribed and will be published in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoolo- 
gical Society’ for 1873. It was sent from the coast of Canter- 
bury, New Zealand, as Balena antipodarum, by Dr. Haast. 
J at first thought, from the similarity of the ear-bones, that it 
was the Hubalena australis ; but it is extremely different from 
this. 

3. Megaptera, nove-zealandic. 


The whale stranded at Wellington Harbour with ‘a falcate 
dorsal” is most probably a Physalus ; for the peculiar character 
of Megaptera is to have merely a hunch instead of a dorsal fin, 
and: elongate pectoral fins. The ear-bones of Megaptera and 
Physalus are nearly similar ; and therefore it is most probably 
Physalus antarcticus. 'The colour of the baleen may vary, as 
the whalers say the character and texture are very different—so 
distinct that a dealer in these articles can distinguish the 
baleen of the Finners of the different countries, and they fetch 
different prices. 

8. Electra, clancula, Gray. 


I do not know what Dr. Hector’s remark refers to; perhaps 
it does not refer to my description. I published a description 
and figure which Dr. Hector sent to me in the ‘Ann. & Mag, 
Nat. Hist.’ 1872, ix. p. 436, fig. 


10. Grampus Richardsoni. 


The number of teeth varies in the different specimens of the 
Kuropean species. 


13. Epiodon chathamiensis, and 
14. Mesoplodon Layardit. 


I have not seen the. skull of Hpiodon australis; but as yet I 
have never seen a species of whale or seal common to the coast 
of South America and New Zealand. It may be different with 
the Cape of Good Hope and Australia and New Zealand ; but 
I have seen no decided instance of the same species occurring 
in two countries; therefore I can give no decided opinion re- 
specting the jaw of Mesoplodon. Layardit. 

At the, same time. 1 may observe that, the. Mesoplodon 
Layard, or, as 1 should call it, Dolichodon Layardi, has a much 


Dolphins of the New-Zealand Seas. 111 


longer and more attenuated lower jaw, and much slenderer 
teeth, than the Chatham-Island specimen, figured and described. 
by Dr. Hector tnder that name; and I have very little doubt 
in my own mind that the Chatham-Island specimen will be 
found, when more perfect specimens are obtained, to be the 
representative of a very distinct species of Dolichodon, which 
I would propose provisionally to designate as Dolichodon Tra- 
versvi—a curious comment on the comparative anatomists, who 
think that Dolichodon Layardi of the Cape, Callidon Giintheri 
of New South Wales, Petrorhynchus capensis of the Cape, &e. 
“all differ in so trifling a degree as not to exceed the range of 
individual variations one often meets with in comparing a series 
of skulls of the same species.” Surely the author means 
of the same domestic animals, and entirely leaves out of the, 
question the experience gained by the study of wild ones and 
the evidence afforded by the study of their geographical. distri- 
bution. . 

I must think that when these authors, become more expe- 
rienced they will wish their observations to have a ‘tacit 
burial and oblivion,” and perhaps themselves learn how. to 
define genera and species. 


15. Berardius Hector. 


I know nothing of this skull except from Dr. Hector’s. 
figures and description: and theskull hasnever been in England; 
so that I do not think that any comparative anatomist has had 
the opportunity of seeing it. Dr. Hector considered it the 
young of B. Arnouxt. Lat once saw that it was different; but 
as it has the teeth in the front of the jaw like Berardius, I 
considered it best (and am still of the same opinion) to retain 
it in that genus, with which it agrees in the position of its 
teeth as developed in the adult animal, and in geographical. 
distribution ; and Dr. Hector’s tracings of the ear-bones of the 
two species show that there is a great affinity between them in 
the very peculiar manner in which those bones are dotted. I con- 
sider the position of the teeth a more important zoological cha- 
racter than a slight difference in the “conformation of the naso- 
premaxillary region,” a part that, as every zoologist who has 
examined several skulls of different ages in the same species 
of Cetacea knows, is very apt to vary; but when acomparative 
anatomist draws his conclusions from figures, or the examination 
of a single specimen of a group, he is often liable to be misled 
as to the value of the characters to which he attaches much 
importance. Nothing showed this better than the published 
results of the labours of a comparative anatomist who has 
named, but not defined, a multitude of species and genera from 


112 Mr. A. G. Butler on the Genus Gonyleptes. 


fragments of fossil bones, but who when he attempted to name 
recent skulls, as of crocodiles (of which he has perfect specimens 
under his eyes), named, described, and published what are now 
regarded as three distinct species in one case, and two distinct 
species in another, under the same name, and, on the other 
hand, a series of skulls of the same species under three different 
names (see Trans. Zool. Soc. vi. 1869, p. 127), and who mixes 
up together under one name the skulls of two such large and 
distinct animals as a one-horned and a two-horned rhinoceros 
as a double-horned one (see Proc. Zool. Soc. 1867, p. 1015). I 
need not (but could) refer to many more instances of the same 
kind. I anrin the habit of estimating, from what is written 
about what I know, the reliance [ may place upon what is 
written of what I do not know, and have thus lost my confidence 
in this author’s writings on zoological questions. 

It is an old complaint that persons will write about what they 
have a limited knowledge of. Thus the comparative anatomists 
are always giving their opinions on the limits and definitions 
of genera and the names that ought to be used—subjects not 
much in their way, and on which they have very crude ideas. 
What would they say if a zoologist interfered with their ana- 
tomical details, their confused nomenclature of bones, and their 
much controverted homologies ? But it is the more remarkable, 
when we consider how very few animals have been dissected, 
and how imperfectly those that have been dissected have been 
described, as is proved by their own papers (see for instance Mr. 
Clark’s paper on the hippopotamus, ‘Proc. Zool. Soc.’ 1872, 
p- 185), that an anatomist should leave his subject and diverge 
to write upon the synonyma of species and the priority of names, 
all of which is mere compilation on his part. 


XIV.—A Monographie List of the Species of the Genus Gony- 
leptes, with Descriptions of three remarkable new Species. 
By ARTHUR GARDINER BUTLER, F.L.S., F.Z.8., &e. 

[Plate III.] 
Family Gonyleptide, Wood. 
Genus GONYLEPTES *, Kirby. 
1. Gonyleptes horridus. 

Gonyleptes horridns, Kirby, Trans. Linn. Soe. xii. p. 452, pl. 22. fig. 16 

(1818). 
Gonyleptes curvipes ?, Koch (nec Guérin), Arachn, vii. pl. 224. fig. 555 

(1839). 
Hab. “Brazil” (Kirby); Surinam. One example. B.M. 
* I take this genus in its restricted sense, as used by Gervais (‘Aptéres,’ 

ili. pp. 102-105). Wood, in his recent papers on Gonyleptide and Pha- 

langide, applies it equally to Gontosoma and Cosmetus ! 


Mr. A. G. Butler on the Genus Gonyleptes. 113 


2. Gonyleptes aculeatus. 


Gonyleptes aculeatus, Kirby, Trans. Linn. Sec. xii. p. 452 (1818). 

Var. ? Faucheur acanthure, Duméril, Dict. Sc. Nat., Ent. pl. 60. figs. 
14-16 (1819). 

Gonyleptes acanthurus, Gervais, Aptéres, iil. p. 105, pl. 46. fig. 2 (1844). 


Hab, Monte Video (Darwin). Two examples. B.M. 


3. Gonyleptes scaber. 
Gonyleptes scaber, Kirby, Trans. Linn. Soc. xii. p. 453 (1818); Koch, 
Ayvachn., vii, pl. 225, figs. 558, 554 (1889). 
Hab. Monte Video?; Valdivia (Cuming). Three examples. 
B.M. 
4, Gonyleptes acanthopus. 


Phalangium acanthopus, Quoy & Gaim. Voy. de l’Uranie, Zool. p. 546, 
pl. 62. figs. 2,9, 3, 9 (1824). 

Eusarcus grandis, Perty, Del. Anim. p. 206, pl. 40. fig. 2, 9 (1830-54). 

Gonyleptes horridus, Koch, Avachn, vii. pl. 222. figs. 551, 552 (1839). 


Hab. Brazil. Five examples. B.M. 


5. Gonyleptes asperatus. 


Gonyleptes asperatus, Gervais, Gay’s Chili, Zool., {Arachn. pl. 1. fig. 9 
(1849). 


Hab, Chili. 
6. Gonyleptes planiceps. 


Gonyleptes planiceps, Gervais, Mag. de Zool., Arachn. pl. 2; Aptéres, ili. 
p. 105 (1844); Gay’s Chili, Zool., Arachn. pl. 1. fig. 10 (1849). 


Hab. Chili. 
7. Gonyleptes pectinatus. 
Gonyleptes pectinatus, Koch, Arachn. xii. pl. 402. fig. 971 (1845). 
? Gonyleptes curvipes, Koch, Arachn. vii. pl. 224. fig. 555 (1839). 
Hab. “Bahia” (Koch); near Rio Janeiro (A. Fry). One 
example. B.M. 
8. Gonyleptes curvipes. 


Gonyleptes curvipes, Guérin, Icon. du Régne Anim., Arachn. pl. 4. fig. 5 
(1842-49); Gervais, Aptires, iii. p. 104, pl. 46. fig. 1 (1844); Gay’s 
Chili, Zool., Arachn. pl. 1. fig. 6 (1849). 

Gonyleptes chilensis, G. Re Gray, Anim. Kingd., Arachn. pl. 20. fig. 2. 


Hab. Chili. Four examples. B.M. 


9. Gonyleptes armatus. 
Gonyleptes armatus, Perty, Del. Anim. p. 205, pl. 39. fig. 18 (1830-34). 
Hab. Rio Negro. 


G. spinipes and asper of Perty are referred by Koch to his 
genus Ampheres; G. curvispina and elegans to his genus Ca- 


lopyqus. 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 8 


114 Mr. A..G. Butler on the Genus Gonyleptes. 


10. Gonyleptes acanthops. 


Gonyleptes acanthops, Gervais, Gay’s Chili, Zool., Arachn. pl. 1. fig. 4 
(1849). 


Hab. Chili. 
There is a species nearly allied to this in the British Museum. 


11. Gonyleptes bicuspidatus. 
Gonyleptes bicuspidatus, Koch, Arachn, vii. pl. 224. fig. 556 (1889). 
Hab. Brazil (Koch). 


12. Gonyleptes muticus. 
Gonyleptes muticus, Koch, Arachn. vii. pl. 225, fig. 557 (1839). 
Hab. Brazil (Koch). 


13. Gonyleptes polyacanthus. 
Gonyleptes polyacanthus, Gervais, Gay’s Chili, Zool., Arachn. pl. 1. fig. 7 
(1849). 
Hab. “Chili” (Gervais); ——? One example. B.M. 


14. Gonyleptes modestus. 


Gonyleptes modestus, Gervais, Gay's Chili, Zool., Arachn. in vol. iv. 
p- 25. n. 4 (1849). 


Hab. Chili?; Valdivia (Cuming). Twoexamples. B.M. 


15. Gonyleptes bicornis. 


Gonyleptes bicornis, Gervais, Gay’s Chili, Zool., Arachn, in yol. iv. p. 21. 
n. 2 (1849). 


Hab. Chili. 


16. Gonyleptes subsimilis. 


Gonyleptes subsimilis, Gervais, Gay’s Chili, Zool., Arachn. pl. 1. fig. 8 
(1849). 
Gonyleptes polyacanthoides, Gervais, Aptéres, iv, p. 577 (1847 ?)*. 


Hab. Chili. 


Seems to be a female closely allied to G. aculeatus 9 ; 
several of the species at present referred to the genus Glontosoma 
have much the same aspect, and may possibly have to be re- 
ferred to this genus when we know both sexes of them. The 
two genera have been somewhat artificially separated; but I 
have thought it better to leave them for the present as Gervais 
left them. 


G. ornatum of Say, recently figured and redescribed by 
Wood as a Gonyleptes, in which genus Gervais also retained 
it (Apt.iv.p. 344), belongs to the genus Cosmetus (Phalangide), 


. A reference is given at p. 576 to the pagination and plates of Gay’s 
‘ Chili.’ 


Mr. A. G. Butler on the Genus Gonyleptes. 115 


the palpi being unarmed. We have four examples from 
Georgia, where the type also was taken; they agree closely 
with Say’s description, but not with Wood’s. 


With regard to the species recently described from Eeuador 
(Trans. Am. Phil. Soe. n. s. xiii. 1869, pp. 435-440, pl. xxiv.), 
G. predo, G. injucundus, and G. spinipalpus appear to be 
Goniosomata, and G. multimaculatus a mutilated and greasy 
example of Cosmetus cordatus; the species (O. marginatus) 
forming the new genus Octophthalmus is unknown to me at 
present; O. bilunata* and O. ferox, forming the genus Or- 
tonia, are also unknown to me, although the latter appears to 
be congeneric with Gontosoma raptator of Gervais, which | 
have always considered the type of a distinct genus. 


The following are new species :— 


17. Gonyleptes armillatus, n. sp. Pl. III. figs. 1, 2. 


Colours: above pitehy, the marginal tubercles of cephalo- 
thorax tawny in the centre ; tarsi ochraceous ; palpi olivaceous ; 
below brownish in parts, the jomts of the legs testaceous 5 
mandibles or chele olivaceous, their pincers ferruginous. 

Male. Above with oculiferous tubercle prominent, arched 
forwards, and obtusely bifurcate; immediately behind it and 
in front of the transverse suture two groups of five to six 
minute tubercles ; central area of cephalothorax transversely 
ovate, margined on either side by six gradually increasing 
prominent tubercles, and in front of these to just above the 
suture by a series of minute shining granules; bearmg on 
either side a robust obtuse incurved spine above base of cox 
of hind legs; distinctly convex and crossed by six to seven 
transverse irregular series of moderate-sized tubercles, besides 
six prominent central ones placed longitudinally in pairs; 
posterior area trisegmented, tuberculate, second segmentation 
bearing a prominent terminal spine : legs short, coarsely rugose, 
spinous, pilose ; hind legs with coxe obtusely spinous ; femora 
coarsely tuberculate, externally obtusely dentate-spinous ; 
tibie coarsely tuberculate : sternal surface entirely tuberculate 
and pilose, as also the segments of the abdomen ; palpi (“ man- 
dibules palpiformes” of Gervais) of moderate length, compressed, 
with slender spines ; cheliceres short, pilose, the chele cylin- 
drical, pincers minutely serrated internally. 

* This species has quite the aspect of a Cosmetus, so far as one can 
judge by the figure; but the description says, “Palpi ... . penulti- 
mate joint broadly dilated, somewhat triangular, thin, and armed with 
minute slender spines on its margins, and a pair of larger ones on its distal 
end; the distal article more cylindrical, with one or more acute spines,, 
against which the movable claw works.” n 

gi 


116 Mr. A. G. Butler on the Genus Gonyleptes. 


Length of cephalothorax 4 lines ; relative length of legs 1, 
3,4, 2, the second pair being the longest. 

Female. Differs chiefly in its narrower cephalothorax, which 
has smaller tubercles and less strongly developed lateral spines ; 
the legs also are much less spinose. 

Hab, Ecuador (Buckley). 3 9. B.M. 


Must be placed next to G. curvipes, but is a very distinct 
and beautiful form. 


18. Gonyleptes ancyrophorus, n. sp. Pl. ILI. figs. 5, 6. 


Colours: cephalothorax above pitchy, becoming testaceous 
at the margins; legs black-brown, with coxee ochraceous and 
base of femora ferruginous ; femora of hind legs entirely fer- 
ruginous ; palpi blackish olivaceous, terminal claw and points 
of spines ochraceous ; cheliceres olivaceous, with pincers ochra- 
ceous; body below dirty testaceous, clouded with olivaceous, 
and becoming blackish posteriorly. 

Cephalothorax above with oculiferous tubercle prominent, 
bearing two well-developed and moderately acute divergent 
spines; entire dorsum unusually convex; posterior area tra- 
pezoidal, and bearing on its hinder margin two slightly diver- 
gent and well-developed acute spines ; legs long, smooth ; hind 
legs irregularly spined along inner margin of femora; palpi 
rather longer than cephalothorax, their joints more or less 
cylindrical, irregular, coarsely spined; cheliceres with second 
joint above trispmose behind ; chele rather large, fixed finger 
with two obtuse teeth on its inner margin: inferior surface 
smooth, the metasternum bearing on either side (about halfway 
between the third and fourth pair of legs) a strong acute per- 
pendicular spine, and on its outer margin, below the retracted 
abdominal segments, a long, thick, incurved, and nearly per- 
pendicular horny process, bifurcate at its tip. 

Length of cephalothorax 4 lines; relative length of legs, 
apparently, 1, 3, 2, 4. 

Hab. Quito (W. C. Hewitson). B.M. 

Not nearly allied to any described species. 


19. Gonyleptes telifer,n. sp. Pl. III. figs. 3, 4. 


Colours almost as in G. armillatus, but (with the exception 
of the cheliceres) rather darker ; under surface of body pitchy. 

Cephalothorax similar in general form to that of G. armal- 
latus ; irregularly tuberculate, marginal tubercles smaller, some 
of them obtusely spinose ; oculiferous tubercle very prominent, 
bispinose ; six central tubercles of cephalothorax elongated into 
obtuse spines, the hindmost pair being the longest; margin 


On the Longicorn Coleoptera of. Tropical America. 117 


above base of coxee of hind legs bearing two widely divergent 
obtuse spines ; posterior area trisegmented, tuberculate, second 
segmentation bearing a prominent central acute spine, third 
segmentation terminating in a long, feebly curved, and very 
robust spine, three lines in length; legs long, rugose, denticu- 
late ; hind legs, with the exception of the femora, internally 
dentated; body below, including abdomen, coarsely tuberculate ; 
palpi moderately long, subeylindrical, with slender spines ; 
cheliceres small ; the chelz cylindrical, pilose, pincers crossing 
at the tips and strongly denticulate internally. 

Length of cephalothorax (excluding terminal spine) 43 lines ; 
relative length of legs 1,3, 2,4. 

Hab, Eiga (Bates). One specimen., B.M. 


Most nearly allied to G. armillatus, but in general appear- 
ance utterly unlike any thing previously described: it reminds 
me of a similarly ornamented fossil form described by Mr. 
Henry Woodward (Géol. Mag. vol. viii. p. 355, pl. xi. 1871) 
as Kophrynus Prestvicit (Curculioides of Samouelle) ; the latter, 
however, excepting in ornamentation, appears to come nearer 


to Ischyropsalis of Koch. 


XV.—WNotes on the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 
By H. W. Bates, F.L.S. 


[Continued from p. 45. ] 


Genus ACYPHODERES. 
Serville, Ann. Soc. Ent. Fr. 1833, p. 549; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 505. 


The character given by Serville as distinguishing this genus 
was the broadly ovate depressed uneven thorax. A more 
constant feature is the rather abruptly subulate elytra. The 
thorax is sometimes oblong-ovate and convex. The antenne 
in all the species are robust and strongly serrated. 


I. Apew of elytra entire. 
A. Thorax without dorsal ridges. 


1. Acyphoderes crinitus, Klug. 
Stenopterus crintus, Klug, Entom. Bras. Specim. alter. p. 56, t. xliy. 
El. 
Rio Janeiro. 
2. Acyphoderes mestus, n. sp. 
A, niger, velutinus, dense breviter hirsutus; thorace elongato, sub- 


‘118 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


ovato, postice constricto; elytris disco fuscescenti-albis vitreis. 
Long. 9 lin. ¢. 


Prov. Parand, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. 
Bates). 

Allied to A. erinitus (Klug). More slender and elongate. 
Hind tibiz with the apical half dilated externally, and densely 
clothed with rather short black hairs. Head slender; muzzle 
greatly elongated and narrow; eyes (male) nearly approaching 
in front the mesial line. Antenne rather slender ; joints dilated 
at the apex, and serrate from the fifth jomt. Thorax similar in 
form to that of A.crinitus, but narrower, considerably constricted 
near the base; disk depressed. Elytra subulate, reaching 
scarcely the middle of the fourth segment; disk pale, vitreous ; 
borders black, not clearly defined. Beneath, the breast clothed 
in the middle with a dense woolly tawny-grey pubescence ; 
metasternum very broad, keeled down the middle. Abdomen 
(male) slender, cylindrical; terminal ventral segment with 
two elevated ridges, with their anterior angles projecting and 
pointed. Legs black; hind femora elongate, gradually clavate. 


3. Acyphoderes femoratus, Klug. 


Stenopterus femoratus, Klug, Entom. Bras. Specim. alter. p. 57, t. xliv. 


Acyphoderes brachialis, Pascoe, Journ. of Entom. i. p. 869, 3. 
Brazil. 


Pascoe’s description agrees closely with that of Klug; and 
the figure quoted represents clearly the singular form of the 
anterior legs, which struck both Pascoe and Lacordaire, who 
both appear to have overlooked Klug’s well-known figure. 


AA. Thorax with dorsal ridges. 


4, Acyphoderes hirtipes, Klug. 
Stenopterus hirtipes, Klug, 1. c. p. 55, t. xliv. f£.9, 9. 
S. Brazil. 


The anterior legs of the male are very similar in form to 
those of A. femoratus 2. 

In both these species the muzzle is intermediate, as to length 
and narrowness, between A. crinitus and A. aurulentus. The 
thorax is elongate and almost cylindrical in A. femoratus (al- 
though showing faint dorsal ridges), a little more ovate in A. 
hirtipes, differmg much in shape according to sex in both spe- 
cies. This character, therefore, is of no avail as a generic 
distinction. 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 119) 


5. Acyphoderes aurulentus, Kirby. 


Necydalis aurulehtus, Kirby, Trans. Linn. Soc. xii. 443 (1817); Dalm. 
Anal. Entom. p. 71 (1823). 

Acyphoderes sericinus, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 195, 

Rio Janeiro, Bahia. 

Kirby’s original description is made from the dark form of 
this insect, in which the femora and tibiw are black in the 
middle, and the elytra have a furcate black streak on each 
side. The type of White’s sericinus is a specimen of this 
form. 


6. Acyphoderes Olivieri, Bates. 


Acyphoderes Olivieri, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 328. 

Necydalis abdominalis, Oliv. no. 74, p. 8, pl. 1. £5 (?). 

Amazons and Cayenne. 

Olivier makes no mention of golden pubescence in his de- 
scription; and the elytra in the figure have not the form of 
those of the present species. Nevertheless it is probable his 
species is the same as A. Oliviert. . 


7. Acyphoderes carinicollis, n. sp. 


A, minor, fusco-niger, minus pubescens, femoribus lete rufis, 
posticis basi flavo-testaceis ; thorace anguste oblongo-ovato, line- 
atim aureo-tomentoso, carina levi mediana marginem anticum 
attingente, altera utrinque latiore grosse punctata. Long. 6 lin. 2. 


Prov. Rio Janeiro (coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates). 

Small and slender for this genus. Head punctate-scabrous, 
partly golden tomentose ; muzzie moderate; eyes (female) not 
widely distant in front. Antenne elongate, slightly thickened 
towards apex; joints moderately dilated at apex, and serrate 
from the fifth. Thorax oblong-ovate, as in Bromiades bra- 
chyptera, sparsely hirsute, and appearing glabrous, except the 
lines of golden tomentum, of which there are two dorsal (one 
on each side the median line), one along the anterior and 
posterior margin, and a short oblique one trending towards the 
disk from the tomentose flanks. The three longitudinal nbs 
of the disk are coarsely punctate, except the anterior part of 
the middle one, which is smooth and extends to the fore mar- 
gin. Scutellum golden tomentose. Elytra elongate, subulate; 
margins deep black and clearly defined, and on each side emit- 
ting a branch, which passes above the humeral angle to the 
base ; rest of surface yellow, vitreous. Body beneath pitchy 
black; breast golden tomentose. Legs black; thighs red; 
posterior pair at base pale, sometimes with a dusky ring at 
commencement of the rather abrupt club. 


120 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


8. Acyphoderes odyneroides, White. 
meee. odyneroides, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 196, 
pl. 5. f. 

R. Tapajos, Amazons. 

The apex of the elytra in this species is prolonged into a 
very sharp point. ‘The species is an exact mimic of the wasp 
Polybia liliacea, F., found abundantly in the same localities 
and frequenting the same flowers. 


II. Apex of elytra emarginate-truncate. (Thorax with dorsal 
ridges.) 
9. Acyphoderes acutipennis, Thomson. 
Acyphoderes acutipennis, Thomson, Classif. des Céramb. p. 179. 
Mexico. 


Genus BROMIADES. 
Thomson, Syst. Ceramb. p. 165; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 506. 


This differs from Acyphoderes only in the short cuneiform 
elytra, which barely pass the base of the first abdominal seg- 
ment, and are scarcely dehiscent at the suture. B. brachypte- 
rus bears the closest resemblance to Acyphoderes aurulentus, 
even to the tubercle on the anterior part of the prosternum. 
Lacordaire was unacquainted with the male, which differs from 
the female only in the less dilated antenne and the eyes 
reaching nearly to the median line of the forehead. 


Bromiades brachypterus, Chevr. 
Bromiades brachypterus, Chevrolat, Rev. Zool. 1838, p. 285. 
Cuba and Sta. Marta, New Granada. 


A specimen from the latter locality in my collection differs 
from the Cuban form in having the hind legs wholly tawny 
red, with the exception of the two apical joints of the tarsi, 
which are black. 


Genus SPHECOMORPHA. 
Newman, Entom, Mag. v. p. 896; White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. 
197. 


p- 
Syn. Sphecogaster, Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 471. 


Lacordaire placed this genus in his group Necydalides, al- 
though its characters interfered much with the compactness of 
his definition of the group, as shown by his citing it often as 
an exception. In fact it is merely an extreme form of LAino- 
tragine much modified probably by mimetic adaptation. The 
anterior coxee are certainly much exserted, but not more so 
than in Jsthmiade and in many Odontocere and Ommate, in 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 121 


some of which latter the prosternum between the coxe is also 
reduced, as in Sphecomorpha, to a narrow thread. Stenopte- 
rus murinus of Klug, which I venture to associate with the 
typical species, bridges over the difference between it and 
Odontocera and Acyphoderes. In both the narrowed part of 
the subulate elytra is of extreme length and tenuity, ending in 
a sharp point. The thorax in Sph. murina is not so broad as 
in Sph. chalybea, but it is of similar shape ; and the third anten- 
nal joint is relatively not so long. 


1. Sphecomorpha chalybea, Newm. 
Sphecomorpha chalybea, Newman, /. ec. p. 396. 
S. biplagiatus, Lacord. 1. c. p. 472, note. 
Amazons; Surinam; “ Brazil’ (Newm.). 
The species is deceptively similar to Syneca cyanea, F., 
: pooh wasp in the countries where the Sphecomorpha is 
ound. . 


2. Sphecomorpha murina, Klug. 
Stenopterus murinus, Klug, Entom. Bras. Specim. alter. p. 55, t. xliv. f. 8. 
Rio Janeiro. 


The abdomen is much attenuated at the base, and remark- 
ably vespiform in both sexes. 


Genus ISTHMIADE. 
Thomson, System. Ceramb. p. 166; Lacord. Gen. vol. viii. p. 504. 
The elytra are subulate (narrower than in Acyphoderes). 
The antenne have all joints elongate and slender, strongly 
serrate from the sixth jot. The thorax is narrow, strongly 
polished, and tuberculate. All the species are mimics of 
Ichneumon flies of the group Braconide. 


1. Isthmiade braconides, Perty. 
Stenopterus braconides, Perty, Del. An. Art. Bras, p. 94, t. 19. f. 5. 
Isthmiade hephestionoides, Thoms. 1. c. p. 166. 


South Brazil. 


2. Isthmiade rubra, n. sp. 

I, castaneo-rufa, nitida, vertice nigra; elytris disco pallide fuscis 
vitreis; alis pallide fuscis, ante apicem fascia fulva. Long. 7-8 
lin. 3 2. 

Proy. Rio Janeiro et Parana, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders, 

Dr. Baden, and H. W. Bates). 

Very similar to J. braconides (Perty), differing in its bright 
glossy chestnut-red colour, and especially its pale brown 


122 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


wings. The thorax is smooth and glossy, with five promi- 
nent tubercles on the disk. The eyes in the male do not reach 
the median line of the front ; in the female they are separated 
by a space about twice the width of that of the male. The 
elytra are strongly subuliform. The metasternum is very 
voluminous, and the abdomen very slender, especially at the 
base, in both sexes. In the male the apical ventral segment 
is concave in the middle and elevated at the sides. 

A single male in Dr. Baden’s collection has two strong 
spines at the apex of the fourth ventral segment, like the male 
ot Acyphoderes femoratus. In two other males there is no trace 
of this armature. The terminal ventral segment in the speci- 
men mentioned has not the concavity and lateral wings of the 
type. As the form and colours of all the specimens are 
exactly similar, I do not venture to consider these sexual 
differences specific. 


3. Isthmiade ichneumoniformis. 
Isthmiade ichneumoniformis, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 526, 
R. Amazons. 


4, Isthmiade macilenta, n. sp. 

I. rubre similis, at minor et multo angustior, thorace vix tubercu- 
lato, etc. Valde angustata, rufo-castanea; antennis, elytris, pe- 
dibus quatuor anticis, basique femorum posticorum pallidioribus ; 
capite angusto nigro; thorace elongato, angusto, medio paulo 
dilatato, polito, supra sparsim punctato, tuberculo mediano dorsali 
parvo; elytris haud subito angustatis, apice late rotundatis, spar- 
sim punctatis, nitidis. Long. 53 lin. Q. 

8. Brazil (coll. Dr. Baden). 

Differs from all other species by its narrow elongate thorax, 
destitute of tubercles except the small discoidal one, the rest 
of the surface being simply uneven, and sprinkled with small 
circular punctures; a lateral sulcus is very strongly marked 
near the base. The antenne also differ in being distinctly 
thickened towards the apex, with the joints compact and 
moderately serrated. The elytra are subuliform, but not 
suddenly narrowed, the lateral incurvature being much weaker 
than in the other species. The wings also differ in not having 
the yellow fascia which gives to the other species their strong 
resemblance to the Braconide; they are very light brown, 
and have only a faint indication of a yellow stigmoidal spot. 


Genus IScHASIA. 
Thomson, Syst. Ceramb. p. 163; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 508. 
This genus is distinguished by its short and broad cunei- 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 123 


form elytra, not reaching the apex of the first abdominal seg- 
ment and punetured throughout, the punctures being only a 
little wider apart on the disk, with the interstices shining. 
The muzzle is elongated, but rather broad. The legs long 
and slender, with the thighs rather abruptly clavate and the 
hind tibie not tufted. The antenne are elongate-clavate ; 
Thomson describes the joints (from the sixth) as ‘ paulo ser- 
ratis,” which is nearer the fact than Lacordaire’s statement, 
“‘non dentées en scie.”’ In the male the eyes do not reach the 
median line of the front. 


Ischasia rufina, Thoms. 1. c. 


Prov. Rio Janeiro and Parand (coll. W. Saunders, Dr. 
Baden, and H. W. Bates). 


The antenne and legs are sometimes more or less black. 


Genus CHaris, Newman. 


Newman, Entom. p.21; Lacord. Genera, vol. viii. p. 507. 
Syn. Epimelitta, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 330. 


Having had an opportunity of examining a considerable 
series of species of these insects, so curiously modified to attain 
a close resemblance to different species of hairy bees, I think 
Epimelitta may be very well incorporated with Charis, the only 
differences being the broader thorax and more hirsute body. 


I. Elytra very short, cuneiform. Thorax broad, tumid on each side 
near the hind angle. 
1. Charis euphrosyne, Newman. 
Charis euphrosyne, Newman, Entom. p. 21. 


S. Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders). 


2. Charis barbicrus, Kirby. 


Necydalis barbierus, Kirby, Trans. Linn. Soc. t. xii. p. 443. 
Charis Aawde, Newm. Entom. p. 91. 


Rio Janeiro (coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates). 
The elytra in this species are strongly emarginate along 
their sutural margin, and the lateral edge is very little incurved. 


3. Charis scoparius, Klug. 


Molorchus scoparius, Klug, Entom. Bras. Specim. alter. p. 51, t. xliv. 
f. 2. 


Cametd (Amazons). 


4. Charis mimica, n. sp. 
C. nigra, tibiis posticis apice et tarsis rufis, illis dense fulyo-penicil- 


124 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


latis ; femoribus magnis, crassis, nigro-hirsutis et supra penicil- 

latis. Long. 5lin. o. 

Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro (coll. Dr. Baden). 

Head coarsely punctured, black; mouth pitchy. Eyes 
(male) nearly touching in front the median line. Antenne 
very slightly thickened towards the tip; joints from the fifth 
distinctly enlarged at apex and serrate. Thorax strongly 
transverse, rounded, transversely convex in the middle, the 
convexity clothed with long, erect, black hairs, partially gla- 
brous and punctured behind. Llytra cuneiform, short, reach- 
ing only halfway down the first abdominal segment, black, 
brownish and punctured on the disk, with a line of long, erect, 
black hairs curving from the base to the middle of the suture. 
Legs pitchy black, hairy, short, except the elongated hind 
pair, of which the femora are much thickened, and have a di- 
stinct tuft of black hairs on their upper edge and a fringe be- 
neath. The tibie have their apical half reddish, with two 
tufts of tawny hairs on their outer edge, and a continuous 
long fringe of similar hairs on their inner edge; the tarsi of 
the same legs are also reddish ; the anterior femora are bearded 
underneath with long black hairs. Body beneath black ; me- 
tasternum voluminous, clothed with yellowish hairs; abdomen 
in male moderately slender. 

This curious insect bears a.striking resemblance to certain 
bees of the Melipona group. 


5. Charis meliponica, Bates. 
Epimelitta meliponica, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 331. 
R. Amazons. 
6. Charis rufiventris, Bates. 
Epimelitta rufiventris, Bates, 1. c. p. 331. 
R. Amazons. 
7. Charis bicolor, n. sp. 

C. niger, griseo-pubescens ; partibus oris, antennis basi, abdomine, 
elytrisque dimidio apicali, fulvo-testaceis. Long. 4} lin. ¢ 9. 
Resembles Ch. barbicrus, Kir. (= Awde, Newm.), but dif- 

fers in the elytra not incurved along the sutural edge &e. 

Head rugose-punctate, clothed with silvery-grey pile; muzzle 

short; eyes in male not reaching the median frontal line, in 

female rather more widely separated. Antenne half the length 
of the body (a little longer in’ male), thickened and strongly 
serrated from the sixth joint, tawny testaceous ; tips of apical 
joints blackish. Thorax short, rounded, constricted at the base, 
and slightly gibbous on each side above the constriction ; sur- 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 125 


face longitudinally confluent-strigose, partially clothed with 
silvery pile. Llyvtra short, cuneiform ; apex obtuse, sparingly 
punctured, scarcely shining; basal half violet-black, apical 
half tawny; tip convex and somewhat darker; a patch of 
gold-coloured hairs on each side of the scutellum. Abdomen 
fulvous, not disproportionate to the metasternum, or differing 
much in form according to sex. Legs pitchy black, hairy ; 
hind legs slightly elongated; tibiee with a dense brush of 
blackish hairs on the outer side of their apical haif. 


The following species, unknown to me, belong possibly to 
this section :— 


8. Charis Erato, Newm. Entom. p. 21. 


Brazil. 

9. Charis Mneme, Newm. l. c. p. 90. 
Brazil. . 

10. Charis Melete, Newm. l.c. p. 91. 
Brazil. 


The description in some respects applies to Tomopterus lati- 
cornis (Klug), but it is not sufficiently complete to enable one 
to decide. 


II. Elytra narrowed and strongly divergent towards the apex (reach- 
ing nearly to the apex of the second abdominal segment). Thorax 
subcylindrical. 


11. Charis Aglaia, Newm. Entom. p. 22. 


Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. Bates). 
This species forms a transition to the genus Phygopoda. 


Genus PuHyGoropa, Thomson. 
Thomson, Syst. Ceramb. p. 164. 

Differs from Charis by the great length of the hind legs and 
the more abruptly clavate hind femora. In the smaller and 
narrower thorax and the narrowed and divergent apices of the 
elytra it agrees with section II. of that genus. 


1. Phygopoda albitarsis, Klug. 

Stenopterus albitarsis, Klug, Entom. Bras. Specim. alter. p.57, t. xliv. f.12, 

Phygopoda fugax, Thoms. /. c. p. 164 (?). 

Thomson’s description of his Ph. fugax agrees with small 
examples of Ph. albitarsis, except the omission of mention of 
the smooth raised dorsal line of the thorax. 

R. Amazons. Abundant occasionally on flowers. 


126 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


2. Phygopoda subvestita, White. 
Odontocera subvestita, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 190. 


R. Tapajos, Amazons. 

This species would be almost equally well placed in the 
genus Charis, sect. II. The hind thighs are longer and rather 
more abruptly clavate than in any species of Charis, but they 
are less so than in Phygopoda albitarsis. 


ACORETHRA, nov. gen. 


Corpus, precipue abdomen valde elongatum. Caput parvum, rostro 
paululum producto. Oculi g magni antice fere contigui, 9 
modice distantes. Antenne modice breves, articulis a sexto dila- 
tatis, serratis.  Zhoraw parvus, antice angustatus. lytra cunei- 
formia, obtusa, abdominis segmenti primi medium attingentia, 
disco nitida. Pedes postici elongati; femora gradatim clavata ; 
tibie haud scopiferze ; tarst breves. Metasternwm haud distentum; 
abdomen ¢ lineare, gracile, ° sessile. 


This genus is closely allied both to Charis and Phygopoda, 
but cannot be united to either without rendering their defini- 
tion impossible. The simple hind tibiz and obtuse cuneiform 
elytra distinguish it from Phygopoda; and the elongated hind 
legs and abdomen separate it from Charts. The abdomen is 
of disproportionate extension, exceeding by one half the length 
of the rest of the body. 


Acorethra chrysaspis, 1. sp. 

A. gracilis, fusco-castanea, capite thoraceque obscurioribus, reticu- 
lato-punctatis; elytris cuneiformibus, disco pallide fuscis politis, 
macula utrinque scutellari scutelloque aureo-tomentosis ; pectore 
aureo-tomentoso; segmento primo ventrali testaceo, ceteris ( 9 ) 
utrinque macula laterali aureo-tomentosa ; pedibus fulvo-casta- 
neis, posticis valde elongatis, tibiis longe hirsutis haud scopiferis, 
femoribus gradatim clavatis, basi pallidis. Long. 5-7lin. ¢ 9. 
Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro (coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. 

Bates). 

Head narrow; muzzle as in Ph. albitarsis, moderately elon- 
gated. Eyes, in male contiguous in front, in female moderately 
distant. Thorax gradually narrowed in front and slightly 
constricted at the base. Hlytra not reaching the apex of first 
segment, dehiscent at suture, obtusely pointed at apex; disk 
with a few scattered punctures, shining. Antenne rather 
more than half the length of the body, thickened at the tips ; 
third to fifth joints linear. The abdomen in the male is very 
slender and linear, in the female sessile and not disproportioned 
to the metasternum. 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 127 


PHESPIA, nov. gen. 

Antenne breves; gradatim incrassate; articulo tertio cylindrico, 
quarto et quinto trigonis, sexto usque decimum quadrato-dilatatis, 
perfoliatis, nullo modo serratis. Z'horav lateribus regulariter ro- 
tundatus, supra convexus. H/ytra abbreviata, gradatim attenuata, 
apice acuminata, sutura prope apicem hiantia, supra vitta exteriore 
subhyalina. Abdomen brevissimum, vespiforme. Pedes subgra- 
ciles ; femora pedunculata, versus apicem clavata; tébie@ postice 
apice scopifere. Czetera ut in gen. Odontocera. 


A genus formed for the reception of a small number of species, 
differing in the form of the antenne and elytra too much from 
Odontocera and Acyphoderes to be united to either. The en- 
larged antennal joints are not serriform, but almost equally 
dilated on each side, so as to form a quadrate or thick cylin- 
drical figure; and the elytra are subuliform, in quite a dif- 
ferent way from the same members in Acyphoderes, Isthmiade, 
Sphecomorpha, or ineOdontocera in the few species which as- 
sume this form. ‘They are narrowed almost from the base, 
most so on their outer side, by which, when closed, the sides 
of the metasternum and abdominal segments are visible from 
above; along the suture they are straight until near the apex, 
whence they taper obliquely and each forms a point at its apex : 
above, the vitreous stripe runs obliquely from the shoulder, 
and is interrupted by a dark bar before the apex. The abdo- 
men is relatively very short, not much longer than the meso- 
and metathorax together. In general appearance the species 
mimic the species of the Cercer’s group of solitary wasps. 

The genus is no doubt closely allied to Tomopterus. 


1. Phespia cercerina, Bates. 
Odontocera cercerina, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 325. 
R. Amazons. 


2. Phespia simulans, n. sp. 

Ph. cercerine similis, at elytris longioribus ; fulvo-brunnea vel nigro- 
fusca; capite thoraceque nigris, tibiis posticis fere a basi dense 
fusco-nigro hirsutis. Long. 4-5} lin. 9°. 

Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro, and Prov. Parand (coll. Dr. 
Baden and W. W. Saunders). 

Larger than Ph. cercerina. Head blackish, with stripe of 
golden pile down each side of the forehead and round the eyes. 
Antenne black, reddish at the base; sixth to tenth joints 
thick, cylindrical, compact. Thorax closely but indistinetly 
punctured, black; anterior and posterior margins golden pu- 
bescent. Scutellum golden pubescent. Hlytra longer than in 


128 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


Ph. cercerina, reaching to base of penultimate segment, blackish 
at base and tawny reddish at apex, roughly punctured near 
the base and shoulders; a line of golden pubescence on each 
side of the scutellum and a narrow vitreous yellowish vitta 
beginning near the shoulder and ending long before the apex, 
with a transverse dusky spot across it before its termination. 
The breast and abdominal segments have similar transverse 
lines of pubescence (rich golden) as in Ph. cercerina. The 
legs are reddish tawny, with the exception of the dense brush- 
like pubescence of the hind tibiz reaching nearly to the base, 


which is blackish. 


3. Phespia corinna, Pascoe. 
Charis corinna, Pascoe, Trans. Ent. Soc. ser. 3. vol. v. p. 290. 


New Granada. 


Genus TomopTervs, Serville. 
Serv. Ann. Soc, Ent. Fr. 1833, p. 544. 


I. Elytra short, quadrate, not reaching the base of the abdomen. 


1. Tomopterus staphylinus, Serv. 


Tomopterus staphylinus, Serv. l. c. p. 545. 
Tomopterus pretiosus, Newm. Entom. p. 21 (?). 


Brazil. 

The only character mentioned by Newman as distinguishing 
his 7. pretiosus from T. staphylinus is its much larger size and 
greater beauty; but I have no doubt he had not “the true 7! 
staphylinus before him when he made the comparison, and was 
misled by the 7. quadratipennis (described further on) being 
named as Serville’s species. Serville gives his species as 6-7 
lines in length, and as having the basal segment of the ab- 
domen testaceous. 


2. Tomopterus bispeculifera, White. 


Odontocera bispeculifera, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 190; 
Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 580, 


R. Tapajos, Amazons. 


3. Tomopterus quadratipennis, n. sp. 

T. niger, opacus, thoracis marginibus anticis et posticis fasciaque 
utrinque abbreviata laterali aureo-tomentosis ; elytris apice recte 
truncatis, apud suturam leviter obliquis, vitta obliqua testacea ; 
antennis (scapo nigro excepto) rufo-piceis. Long.4-5lin. ¢ 9. 


Rio Janeiro (coll. Dr. Baden and H. W. Bates). 
Differs trom 7’. staphylinus by its much smaller size, and from 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 129 


T. obliquus by its more transversely truncated elytra, oblique 
only at the sutural angle. Head with much elongated muzzle ; 
front and emargination of the eyes clothed with golden pile. 
Thorax quadrate, with sides slightly rounded ; surface convex, 
regularly punctate-reticulate; the short lateral golden fascia 
joins the anterior marginal one near the anterior coxe. Scu- 
tellum black, with a spot of golden pile at the apex. Llytra 
black, closely reticulate-punctate, the lateral margin as well 
as oblique discal vitta rufo-testaceous. Body beneath finely 
griseous pubescent ; a lateral stripe on mesosternum and meta- 
sternum and apical margins of ventral segments golden tomen- 
tose. The abdomen is slightly vespiform in both sexes, more 
slender in the male. The antenne are pitchy red, the fifth 
joint being dilated at apex and joints 6 to 10 serrate and 
thickened; in 7. laticornis (Klug) the fifth joint is linear. 


4. Tomopterus obliquus, Bates. 
Tomopterus obliquus, Bates, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 329. 
R. Tapajos, Amazons. 


5. Tomopterus vespoides, White. 
Tomopterus vespoides, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 176, pl. v. 
f. 8 


Guatemala. 


6. Tomopterus larroides, White. 
Tomopterus larroides, White, Cat. Long. Col. Brit. Mus. p. 177; Bates, 
Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 330. 
R. Tapajos, Amazons. 
This species is an exact mimic of a small bee of the genus 
Megachile (or allied thereto), which frequents the same flowers. 


II. Elytra cuneiform, reaching a little beyond the base of the 
abdomen. 


7. Tomopterus laticornis, Klug. 

Molorchus laticornis, Klug, Entom. Bras. Spec. alter. p. 61, t. xiv. f. 1. 

Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro (coll. Dr. Baden). 

The resemblance in facies and colours between this and the 
typical species of the genus is very great; but it differs in the 
elytra being a little prolonged, narrowed and rounded at the 
apex, and in the antenne having the sixth to eleventh joints 
very greatly compressed and dilated, with the fifth joint slender 
and linear. 


The genus Pandrosos, Bates (Entom. Monthly Mag. 1867; 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol.xi, 9 


130 Mr. H. W. Bates on the 


vol. iv. p. 23), having parallel mesosternal episterna, must be 
removed from the Lhinotragine, from which it also differs 
in its lateral eyes, &c. Its proper place seems to be near 
Coremia. 


Pasiphile mystica, Thoms. Syst. Ceramb. p. 164 (Lacord. 
Genera, vol. vill. p. 508), is unknown to me, both genus and 
species. The descriptions of the two authors are scarcely recon- 
cilable, Thomson stating the elytra to be “ punctata,” and 
Lacordaire “ vitrées ;” the descriptions in other respects seem 
scarcely to apply to the same species. 


The following genera are closely allied to the Rhinotragine, 
but differ in one or more of the essential characters of the sub- 
family ; at the same time they do not quite agree with any of 
the allied groupes established by Lacordaire. 


APOSTROPHA, nov. gen. 


3 et 2. Modice elongata, linearis. Caput retractile, latum, genis 
paululum elongatis. Ocul magni, convexi, laterales, antice valde 
distantes. Palpi brevissimi, apice subovati, truncati. Antenne 
(dg) corpore multo, ( 2 ) vix longiores, filiformes, articulis a sexto 
leviter serratis, tertio usque septimum extus sparsim setosis. 
Thorax cylindricus. Elytra apicem segmenti secundi vix attin- 
gentia, versus apicem extus curvata, apice late rotundata, supra 
passim punctata. Pedes graciles, elongati; femora abrupte cla- 
vata, intermedia et postica elongata; tibiw lineares ; tarsi postici 
graciles, articulo primo ceteris longiore. Prosternum inter coxas 
latiusculum ; coxe vix exsertee. Mesosternum et abdomen normalia. 
do segmentum ultimum ventrale breve, apice late rotundato-emar- 
ginatum; 2 modice elongatum, rotundatum. 


A genus allied to Ommata, but differing in the widely sepa- 
rated eyes (even in the male) from all the typical forms of 
Rhinotragine. The eyes, although lateral, are turned a little 
towards the front ; and this character, taken together with the 
distinct and moderately broad prosternal process, may bring the 
genus within the limits of this subfamily. The external 
margin of the elytra is very strongly incurved towards the apex, 
and the suture widely dehiscent. 


Apostropha curvipennis, n. sp. 
A. rufo-castanea, vix pubescens, opaca; antennis dimidio basali, 
capite et thorace obscurioribus, hoe utrinque griseo-lineato. Long. 


3-31lin, g Q. 

Prov. Parandé, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. 
Bates). 

Head punctured, opaque, blackish; front plane, griseo-pubes- 


Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 131 


cent. Thorax very closely punctured, blackish, on each side 
a narrow line of greyish hairs. Elytra tawny castaneous, 
rather thickly punctured, more sparsely on the disk, opaque. 
Legs and underside of the body chestnut-red, base of thighs 
paler; underside of prothorax and sides of abdomen with 
patches of short hoary pubescence. 


STENOPSEUSTES, nov. gen. 

Facies gen. Ommaie. Elongato-linearis, pubescens. Caput (¢) 
retractile, genis modice elongatis, parallelis. Ocul: magni, distan- 
tes, modice convexi, laterales, sed paulo versus frontem inflecti. 
Antenne corpore vix breviores, apice paululum incrassate, longe 
sparsim setose, articulis omnibus elongatis, linearibus, ‘quarto 
quam quinto paulo breviore. Jhorav elongatus, cylindricus. 
Elytra corpore paulo breviora, a medio paululum angustata, sutura 
recta, apice singulatim acute rotundata, subtiliter pubescentia, 
Prosternum inter cexas tenuissimum et subobsoletum; meso- 
sternum angustum. Coa antic conico-cylindroides; acetabula 
postice aperta. Metasternwm convexum. Abdomen gracile, lineare. 
Pedes elongati, graciles, postici longiores, passim longe setosi ; 
femora omnia abrupte clavata. 


Stenopseustes wger, ni. sp. 
8. linearis, elongatus, pubescens, flavo-testaceus, thorace vitta dor- 
sali fusco-nigra. Long.5lin. ¢. 

Prov. Parandé, Brazil (coll. W. W. Saunders and H. W. 
Bates). 

Of similar elongate form to Ommata atrata, &c., but more 
exactly linear, the thorax being scarcely narrower than the 
elytra, and not attenuated in front or broader than the head. 
The whole insect with fine decumbent golden pile, besides long, 
erect, fine hairs, which are especially long all round the hind 
legs. The head, legs, and sides of the thorax are waxy yellow ; 
the antenn are of the same colour, but sometimes varied with 
black ; the eyes in the male are widely distant both above and 
below, but the large lower lobes are a little frontal. The 
thorax is long and cylindrical, closely rugose and opaque, with 
an indefinite black dorsal stripe. The elytra reach to the 
base of the terminal segment, and are very minutely rugose 
and opaque, with a few larger punctures. 

The terminal ventral segment (male) is short, with the 
apical margin broadly and deeply notched. 


XENOCRASIS, nov. gen. 
Linearis, robusta. Caput valde retractile ; rostro modice elongato, 


O* 


132 On the Longicorn Coleoptera of Tropical America. 


lato; fronte lateraliter carinata. Oculi ( 2 ) laterales, haud magni. 
Palpi breves, apice cylindrici, truncati. Mawille lobo exteriore 
elongato, exserto. Antenne ( Q ) corpore paulo breviores, apice in- 
crassate, haud serrate; articulis tertio usque. sextum extus 
setosis ; art. undecimo appendiculato. Thoraa cylindricus, antice 
paulo dilatatus, dorso valde convexo, margine antico medio pro- 
ducto. lytra fere ut in gen. Acyphoderes subulata, apice rotun- 
data, disco toto levissime hyalino, Pedes elongati, postici valde 
elongati; femora abrupte clavata ; tzbiw posticee densissime longe 
hirsute; tarsi graciles, breves. Prosternum inter coxas angus- 
tissimum ; cove subconice, exserte. Mesosternum angustum. 
Metasterni episterna elongato-triangularia, antice lata; meta- 
sternum pauloinflatum. Abdomen ( 2 ) basi breviter constrictum ; 
segmento ultimo ventrali elongato, angustato, semitubulari. 


Xenocrasis presents a strange mixture of characters of true 
Necydaline and Rhinotragine. Its distant and not enlarged 
eyes, and laterally carinated forehead, remove it from the latter 
group, to which it is nevertheless more nearly allied than any 
genus of Necydaline with which I am acquainted. 


Xenocrasis Badenii, n. sp. 


X. elongata, robusta; capite thoraceque nigris ; pedibus fulvis, tarsis 
posticis albis; antennis nigris, articulis octavo usque undecimum 
albis. Long. 9 lin. 9. 


Novo Friburg, Rio Janeiro, Brazil (coll. Dr. Ferd. Baden). 

Robust. Head black, rather shining; occiput coarsely, 
forehead sparsely punctured; sides of forehead and centre 
line of occiput carimated. Antenne black, joints 8 to 11 
white and thickened. ‘Thorax black, opaque, disk sprinkled 
with small circular fovez, interstices very minutely punctulate ; 
disk very convex and subcarinate ; sides each with an oblique 
raised patch, smooth on its outer side; the whole surface has 
an extremely fine silky hoary pile. Hlytra with straight 
suture ; sides beyond the middle rather sharply and greatly in- 
curved, leaving the apical third very narrow and nearly 
parallel ; apex obtuse ; the whole disk is glassy and perfectly 
transparent ; the extr eme mar gins are black and punctured, and 
the black colour extends for some distance over the apex and 
base. Underside black; metasternum proper and abdomen 
reddish tawny, with very. little pubescence. Legs brighter 
reddish tawny, including the pilosity of the hind tibiee ; an- 
terior and middle tarsi blackish ; hind tarsi white. 


On some Fossils from the Quebec Group. 133 


XVI.—On a new Species of Turkey Vulture from the Falkland 
Islands and®a new Genus of Old-World Vultures. By R. 
Bowbter Suarpe, F.L.8., F.Z.8., &e., Senior Assistant, 
Zoological Department, British Museum. 


THE Catharista from the Falklands has always been referred 
to C. aura, from which species it is obviously distinct, by 
reason of the conspicuous grey shade on the secondaries. It 
might be supposed to be the Catharista cota of Molina from 
Chili; this species, however, is well represented by Mr. Cassin 
(U. 8. Expl. Exp. pl. 1), and differs in its small size and black 
coloration from both the North-American and the Falkland- 
Islands bird. The latter is about the size of C. aura of North 
America and by no means smaller. 

Iam much indebted to the kindness of Mr. Reeve, of the 
Norwich Museum, for examining the specimens therein con- 
tained; and as he finds that the Turkey Vulture from the 
Falklands presents the same differences as the birds in the 
national collection, I have no hesitation in proposing the name 
of Catharista falklandica for the aforesaid Vulture. 

At the same time I may be permitted to inquire whether 
there are two species of true Turkey Vulture of Jamaica. I 
do not refer to C. atrata, which is now found there also, The 
ordinary Turkey Vulture has always been set down as C. aura; 
but the only specimen in the museum from Jamaica is C. Bur- 
roviana (C. urubitinga, Pelz. ex Natt.). Do, therefore, C. 
auraand C. Burroviana both inhabit the island? | 

Passing to Old-World Vultures I would suggest that an end 
should be put to the indefinite characters of the genus Gyps, 
whose tail-feathers are ecther fourteen or twelve in number, 
by relegating the two species which enjoy the latter quantity 
to a separate genus, which may be called 


PSEUDOGYPS, gen. nov. 
Genus a genere “Gyps” dicto, rectricibus 12 nee 14 distinguendum. 


The two species to be included in it will be Pseudogyps ben- 
galensis and Pseudogyps moschatus (africanus, Salvad.). 


XVII.—On some Fossils from the Quebec Group of Point 
Lévis, Quebec. By H. Atteyne Nicuo.son, M.D., D.Sc., 
M.A., F.R.S.E., Professor of Natural History in University 
College, Toronto. 


Havine during the preceding summer had the opportunity of 
paying a hurried visit to Quebec, I was enabled to collect a 


134 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on some Fossils 


considerable number of fossils from the Graptolitic Shales of 
the Quebec group along the fine exposures of Point Lévis. 
Most of these are, of course, familiar forms, which have been 
previously described and figured by Hall in his beautiful 
memoir on the Graptolites of the Quebec group (‘ Figures and 
Descriptions of Canadian Organic Remains,’ Decade ii.).. Two 
or three, however, of the forms which I obtained are new to 
science ; and in characterizing these I shall at the same time 
take the opportunity of making some remarks on some of the 
already described species. The following list embraces the 
species which I have determined from my collection :— 


HyYpDROZOA. 


Callograpsus elegans, Hall. 

Saltert, Hall. 

Dictyonema grandis, Nich. 

Clonograpsus flexilis, Hall. 

rigidus, Hall. 

Tetragrapsus (Graptolithus) bryonotdes, Hall. 
) fruticosus, Hall. 
quadribrachiatus, Hall. 

approximatus, Nich. 

Didymograpsus (Graptolithus) nitidus, Hall. 
( ) patulus, Hall. 

— ( ) pennatulus, Hall. 
Phyllograpsus typus, Hall. 

Dawsonia acuminata, Nich. 

rotunda, Nich. 

tenuistriata, Nich. 

Corynoides. 


BRACHIOPODA. 
Lingula irene, Billings. 


CRUSTACEA. 
Caryocaris. 


Dictyonema grandis, Nich. 

Frond conical or fan-shaped; branches very strong and 
robust, diverging from the base, frequently and regularly bifur- 
cating, and separated by interspaces which are about twice 
their own width. Width of the branches from 5 to 6 hundredths 
of aninch. Fenestrules oblong, from 8 to 10 hundredths of 
an inch in width by from 5 to 6 hundredths of an inch in 
length, rarely square or longer than broad. Connecting 
filaments or dissepiments from 4 to 5 hundredths of an inch in 
width ; sometimes narrower, generally widest in the middle, 


from the Quebec Group of Point Lévis. 135 


and often curved, with their convexities directed towards the 
base of the frond. Cellules undetermined. Surface smooth. 
Length of the largest frond observed (not a perfect one) a little 
over two inches, breadth a little above the base about one fifth 
of an inch, breadth at summit nearly two inches (fig. 1, a, 0). 


Fig. 1. 


Wh! | 

b 

Dictyonema grandis, Nich.: a, fragment of a frond, natural size, showing 

the rapid divergence and bifurcation of the branches; }, a fragment, 
enlarged, to show the fenestrules and connecting filaments. 


There can be no doubt as to the close alliance which subsists 
between this species and the Dictyonema Murray? described by 
Hall from the shales of Point Lévis (Grapt. Quebec Group, 
p- 138, pl. xx. figs. 6, 7). The following are the characters 
ascribed to the latter :—‘‘ Frond very large, gradually spreading 
from its origin. Branches strong, width from 5 to 8 hundredths 
of an inch, infrequently bifurcating ; divisions little diverging, 
the interspaces being little wider than the branches. The 
fenestrules have a width of 8 by a length of 11 hundredths of 
aninch. The connecting filaments are wide at their origin or 
union with the branch, and slender in the middle; from about 
one third to one half as wide as the branches. Cellules un- 
determined. Surface smooth.” 

When we compare the above description with that of the _ 
present species, the latter appears to be clearly separated by 
the conical form of the frond, and the rapid divergence and 
frequent bifurcation of the branches, whilst the fenestrules are 
almost always markedly wider than they are long, the reverse 
of this obtaining in D. Murray?. 'These peculiarities along 
with some other, minor differences, which will be sufficiently 


136 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on some Fossils 


evident on a comparison of the descriptions of the two forms, 
seem to be quite constant, and appear to me to be quite sufficient 
to establish the specific distinctness of D. grandis. 

From D. quadrangularis, Hall (op. cit. supra, p. 138, pl. xx. 
fig. 5), to which it also bears some resemblance, though not so 
close a one, D. grandis is readily distinguished by the fact that 
the branches of the former are nearly parallel and rarely bi- 
furcate, whilst the fenestrules are very nearly square. 

Loc. and Form. Common in a single stratum of greenish- 
grey ae Point Lévis, the fronds covering large surfaces of 
the beds. 


Tetragrapsus approximatus, Nich. 


Frond consisting of four simple undivided stipes, arranged 
bilaterally, two proceeding from each extremity of the funicle. 
Regarding the funicle as horizontal, the stipes are as nearly 
as possible at right angles to it; so that the two stipes on either 
side of the funicle form nearly a straight line. Stipes curved 
at their origin from the funicle, and then running nearly straight 
and parallel to one another. The entire frond closely resembles 
two examples of Didymograpsus (Graptolithus) patulus, Hall, 
united back to back by their radicles (fig. 2, a). 


Fig. 2. 


Tetragrapsus approximatus, Nich.: a, a specimen nearly perfect, natural 
size; 6, fragment of one of the stipes, magnified, to show the form of 
the cellules. 


Dimensions of the frond in the largest specimen observed : 
length of funicle one tenth of an inch; width of funicle one 


from the Quebec Group of Point Lévis. 137 


twentieth of an inch; width of stipe at commencement ene 
twenty-fifth of,an inch, at widest portion about one line ; total 
length of frond unknown, but exceeding three inches and a 
half; distance between the stipes on opposite sides of the frond 
from one fifth to one fourth of an inch, except close to the 
funicle. 

Cellules about twenty-five in the space of an inch, inclined 
to the axis at about 45°; the denticles prominent and sharply 
pointed or submucronate; the cell-mouths curved at right 
angles or nearly so to the cellules, and making an angle of 
about 135° with the axis (fig. 2, 0). 

Tetragrapsus approximatus is most nearly allied to 7. eru- 
cialis, Salter (=Graptolithus quadribrachiatus, Hall), from 
which, however, it is separated by several very important 
peculiarities. Most striking amongst these is the very remark- 
able shape of the frond. In 7. quadribrachiatus, Hall, when 
undistorted, the stipes upon the same side of the funicle are nearly 
at right angles to one another; so that (keeping the funicle 
horizontal) the left-hand upper stipe forms nearly a straight 
line with the right-hand lower stipe, and the other two stipes 
similarly form a straight line. The whole frond, therefore, 
has in this species very nearly the shape of the letter X ; and 
it may be compared to what would result if two examples of 
Didymograpsus serratulus, Hall, were united back to back by 
their radicles. In Tetragrapsus approximatus, on the other 
hand, the two stipes on the same side of the funicle (keeping 
the funicle, as before, in a horizontal position) are nearly in the 
same straight line, and the two stipes on the one side are, as 
nearly as may be, parallel with those on the other side. Hence 
the whole frond (and this is a fact worthy of notice) bears a 
very close resemblance to two individuals of Didymograpsus 
patulus, Hall, united back to back by their radicles, this re- 
semblance being increased by the similarity in the shape of the 
cellules in the two species. 

Again, the cellules in Tetragrapsus approximatus are much 
more highly inclined to the axis than they are in 7. quadri- 
brachiatus, the denticles are much more prominent and pointed, 
and the cell-mouths are markedly curved instead of being 
straight. Asin 7. quadribrachiatus, the funicle does not appear 
to have been embraced by a central corneous disk. The pecu- 
liarities above mentioned as distinguishing 7. approximatus 
are constant in a large number of individuals ; and therefore 
no doubt can be entertained as to the distinctness of the 
species. 

Loc. and Form. Common in dark grey or greenish grey 
shales of the Quebec group, Point Lévis. 


138 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on some Fossils 


CLonoGrapsus, Hall. 


In the course of last winter, when preparing the first part of 
my ‘Monograph of the British Graptolitide,’ I wrote to Prof. 
Hall asking him to propose a generic name for forms like his 
Graptolithus flexilis and G. rigidus, which are clearly entitled 
to be placed in a separate genus. Prof. Hall’s reply unfortu- 
nately reached me too late to be available in the above men- 
tioned publication, and I therefore left these forms temporarily 
in the genus Dichograpsus. I take the present opportunity, 
however, of defining the species in question under the generic 
name of Clonograpsus (kd@v, a twig) proposed for them by 
Prof. Hall. 

The characters of the genus are as follows:—Frond composed 
of numerous (more than eight) stipes proceeding from a common 
funicle, on the two sides of which they are symmetrically 
arranged ; the frond dividing dichotomously and the pro- 
cess of division going on after the cellules are developed, 
till ultimately there may be produced from sixty-four to one 
hundred and forty-four simple celluliferous stipes. No central 
disk. 

The genus Dichograpsus, Salter, will now contain only those 
Graptolites in which the frond consists of eight simple stipes 
proceeding from a funicle, the divisions of which are some- 
times enveloped in a corneous disk. The celluliferous stipes 
in this genus do not subdivide or branch. 

The genus Loganograpsus, Hall, again, will embrace those 
compound Graptolites in which the frond consists of from eight 
to twenty-five simple stipes which do not subdivide, and which 
are sometimes united at their bases by a corneous disk. 

From both of these genera Clonograpsus is distinguished by 
the great number of stipes composing the frond (sixty-four to 
one hundred and forty-four in the typical forms, but fewer in 
others), by the fact that the celluliferous stipes themselves sub- 
divide, and by the apparently uniform absence of a corneous 
disk. 

The only undoubted species of Clonograpsus from the Quebec 
group are C. flewilis, Hall, and C. rigidus, Hall, both of which 
occur in great plenty in the shales of Point Lévis. It is also 
probable that the Graptolithus Richardsoni and G. ramulus of 
the same author, from the same formation, likewise belong to 
this genus. Of the Graptolites of the Skiddaw series of the 
north of England, the Dichograpsus multiplex, Nich., un- 
doubtedly belongs to Clonograpsus, and Dichograpsus reticu- 
latus, Nich., may likewise, in all probability, be placed in this 
genus. 


from the Quebec Group of Point Lévis. 139 


DawsonIA, Nich. 


"i 

I propose this genus, named in honour of Principal Dawson 
of Montreal, for the singular bodies which I have elsewhere 
(Monograph Brit. Grapt. part 1. p. 71, fig. 41) described as the 
“ovarian vesicles”’ of Graptolites. I am led to this step by 
the extreme inconvenience of applying a general name like 
“ovarian capsules” to fossils which often present differences 
of specific value, which cannot be properly described unless a 
special name be adopted. Moreover good authorities are dis- 
posed to doubt whether these bodies are truly to be compared 
to the ‘‘ovarian capsules” of the Graptolites ; and the name of 
“‘ erapto-gonophores,” which I originally applied to them 
(Geological Magazine, vol. ili. p. 448), is open to other grave 
objections as well. Upon the whole, therefore, it appears to 
me best to found for these fossils the provisional genus Daw- 
sonia, which implies no theory as to their nature, and which 
will enable us to specify and name such varieties as appear to 
be distinct. In fact this course seems to me to be the best, 
even whilst I retain my belief as to their truly being the 
“ovarian capsules” of Graptolites; for it cannot be hoped 
that we shall ever be able to refer each (or perhaps any) par- 
ticular species of Dawsonia to the species of Graptolite by which 
it was produced. 

The characters of the genus are as follows :—Horny or chi- 
tinous capsules of a rounded, oval, conical, or campanulate 
shape, furnished in most cases with a little spe or mucro, and 
having a marginal filament exactly resembling the solid axis 
of a Graptolite. The marginal fibre sometimes complete, 
sometimes ruptured opposite to the mucro. The mucro some- 
times apparently wanting, sometimes marginal, submarginal, 
subcentral, or central. ‘The surface smooth or concentrically 
striated. 

I first discovered the bodies included under this head in the 
Lower Silurian anthracitic shales of the south of Scotland, 
where they occur in great numbers along with the Graptolites ; 
and, as before remarked, I regarded them as bearing to the 
Graptolites the same relation that the ‘ovarian capsules” do 
to the colonies of the Sertularians. Subsequently I detected 
similar bodies in the Graptolitic mudstones of the Coniston 
series of the north of England, also associated with numerous 
Graptolites. I consider it the very strongest confirmation of 
my views as to the nature of these fossils that I have now dis- 
covered them in vast numbers in the Quebec group, associated 
with the Graptolites of that formation. Not only are they 
very numerous, but there are at least three distinct forms of 


140 Dr. H. A. Nicholson on some Fossils 


them, as might be expected when we consider the number and 
complexity of the Quebec Graptolites. It would seem, there- 
fore, that the constant association of these fossils with Grapto- 
lites (whenever these latter occur in any plenty), and their 
constant absence from strata in which Graptolites are unknown, 
constitute extremely strong proofs as to there being a natural 
connexion between the two sets of organisms. 

Without entering further into their nature at present, I shall 
simply describe three well-marked forms of these bodies which 
occur in the shales of the Quebec group, and which differ both 
from one another and from the forms which are found in the 
Graptolitiferous rocks of the south of Scotland and the north 
of England. 


Dawsonia acuminata, Nich. 


Capsule of a long oval shape, having one extremity prolonged 
gradually, and without any marked line of demarcation, into a 
long acuminate mucro. The marginal fibre extremely delicate, 
and not always to be detected. “Often showing an impressed 
line, which proceeds inwards from the mucro ‘to a greater or 
less distance within the sac. Dimensions variable; in the 
Quebec specimens mostly about one fifth of an inch in length 
by one tenth of an inch at the greatest width ; in English spe- 
cimens the average dimensions as above, but large examples 
showing a length of two fifths of an inch by a greatest width 
of three twentieths of an inch. (Fig. 3, a, a’.) 


a 26 


Fig. 3. 


Various forms of Dawsonia: 2, Dawsonia acuminata, natural size ; a', the 
same, enlarged; b, D. rotunda, natural size; b’, ‘the same, enlarged ; 
ce, D. tenuistriata, natural size; c’, the same, enlarged ; d, d', another 
variety of D. tenuistriata ; Ss va forms of D. campanulata, enlarged. 


Dawsonia acuminata is exceedingly abundant in some beds 
of the Quebec group at Point Lévis, where it constitutes the 
commonest form of the genus. The species also occurs not 
uncommonly in the anthracitic shales of the south of Scotland 
(Upper Llandeilo). The size of the Quebec specimens is ex- 
ceedingly uniform, whereas English specimens vary extraordi- 


from the Quebec Group of Point Lévis. 141 


narily in their dimensions, examples apparently belonging 
to this species ranging from about one line in length to more 
than a quarter of an inch. It is probable therefore that, 
in spite of the identity of shape, more than one form is included 
under this head. ‘The species to which D. acwminata is most 
nearly allied is D. campanulata, from which it is distinguished 
by the fact that the mucro is not sharply separated from the 
body of the capsule, whilst its figure is quite different. 


Dawsonia rotunda, Nich. 


Capsule minute, oval or circular in outline, consisting of a 
flattened marginal limb surrounding a central elevated seed- 
like body (the cast of the interior of the capsule). The mar- 
ginal limb is quite smooth and exhibits no structure ; but the 
central rounded mass often exhibits strie or furrows, which are 
disposed concentrically round a marginal point (fig. 3, , b'). 
Dimensions very: cqnstant, the circular specimens having a 
diameter of a line or a little less, whilst the oval specimens 
have a long diameter of about a line by a short diameter of 
about one twentieth of an inch. 

This exceedingly distinct form cannot be confounded with 
any of the ordinary forms of Dawsonia. It is found very 
abundantly in certain beds of the Point-Lévis shales. It is 
curious to note how closely D. rotwnda approximates in struc- 
ture to the “statoblasts” of the Polyzoa, since the capsule, 
according to all appearances, has been composed of two concavo- 
convex disks united by their faces, the union being effected by 
the adhesion of a broad marginal belt on each disk. I have 
not as yet determined this species from any of the Graptoliti- 
ferous strata of Britain. 


Dawsonia tenuistriata, Nich. 
Capsule oval, obtusely ovate, satchel-shaped, or nearly round, 
covered with fine concentric striz, which surround a prominent 
elevated point. ‘This point (the mucro) marginal, submarginal, 
subeentral, or central. The strie differing in closeness and 
fineness, but always delicate and regular in their arrangement. 
Dimensions, like the shape, very variable, but the length usually 
varying from one tenth to one fifth of an inch. (Fig. 3, ¢, ¢, 
d, d'.) 

’ The forms included under this head are extremely like small 
Brachiopods of the genera Lingula, Obolella, and Discina; and 
it is difficult to convince one’s self that they do not truly belong 
to this group. That they are not Brachiopods, however, 
appears certain from the following considerations. ‘They occur 
in great plenty, along with the two previously described forms 


142 On some Fossils from the Quebec Group. 


of Dawsonia, in the shales of the Quebec group at Point Lévis. 
They have exactly the same texture, and are in just the same 
state of mineralization as the ordinary forms of Dawsonia. 
Their shape is so variable that we should have to believe that 
there were at least four or five distinct species of small Brachi- 
opods in these beds, which is very unlikely. Lastly, the 
position of the elevated point, which would constitute the beak 
if they were Brachiopods, is exceedingly variable, being most 
commonly placed a little within the margin, but being at other 
times subcentral or marginal. On the other hand all the re- 
quirements of the case are met by the supposition that we have 
in these singular fossils the horny capsules of a species of 
Dawsonia, in which the capsule was furnished with striz con- 
centric to the mucro. On this view the elevated point round 
which the striz are disposed is the mucro; and its variable 
position, as well as the variable shape of the capsule, can be 
readily explained by supposing that it is due to the variable 
direction in which the capsule has been compressed. When 
compressed laterally the mucro will be marginal ; when com- 
pressed from above downwards the mucro will be more or less 
nearly central; when compressed obliquely the mucro will be 
submarginal. 


Dawsonia campanulata, Nich. 


Capsule bell-shaped, with a very distinct marginal fibre and 
a strong and distinct mucro. The mucro does not pass insen- 
sibly into the body of the capsule, but is sharply separated from 
it. The surface of the capsule smooth. The marginal fibre 
sometimes continuous, sometimes ruptured opposite to the 
mucro (fig. 3, e, f). Dimensions extremely variable ; average 
specimens about one fifth of an inch in length by three twen- 
tieths of an inch in breadth. 

Ordinary specimens of this form present the appearance 
shown in fig. 3, e, where the capsule has been compressed 
laterally and the mucro is marginal. Many specimens, how- 
ever, present the appearance shown in fig. 3,7, in which the 
compression has been directed from above downwards, and the 
mucro forms an elevated point within the margin, surrounded 
by a few concentric ridges. This appearance might lead to its 
being confounded with Dawsonia tenuistriata ; but it is really 
very different. In the latter the concentric strize which surround 
themucro are really proper to the capsule, and they are extremely 
fine, delicate, and regular; in vertically compressed specimens 
of D. campanulata, on the other hand, the concentric ridges 
which surround the mucro are truly foreign to the capsule, 
being merely the result of the direction of the pressure, and 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Tortoises. 143 


being very irregular in size and number. In fact they are 
not striz, properly speaking, at all, but simply concentric 
crumplings or corrugations of the capsule. 

I need not discuss here further the affinities and structure of 
D. campanulata, as | have not yet detected the species in the 
shales of the Quebec group. It is, however, the commonest 
species which occurs in the anthracitic shales (Upper Llan- 
deilo) of the south of Scotland. 


Corynoides calicularis, Nich. (?) 

Numerous examples of a species of Corynotdes, Nich., occur 
in a bed of black shale at Pot Lévis; but their state of pre- 
servation is such as to render their specific determination 
impossible. They agree very well in their dimensions with 
C. calicularis, Nich. (Geological Magazine, vol. iv. p. 107, 
pl. vii.), which is an abundant fossil in the Upper Llandeilo 
shales of Dumfriesshire, Scotland. It is quite possible, however, 
that more perfect examples will show that the Quebec species 
is distinct. 

Caryocaris, sp. 

It is very interesting to notice the occurrence in the Point- 
Lévis shales of a species of the Crustacean genus Caryocaris, 
Salter, this genus being exceedingly characteristic of the cor- 
responding formation of the Skiddaw Slates of the north of 
England. The state of preservation of the Quebec specimens 
is such as to render their specific determination hazardous and 
uncertain; and I prefer therefore to leave them undescribed at 
present. Upon the whole they closely resemble small speci- 
mens of Caryocaris Wrighti’, Salter (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe. 
vol. xix. p. 139); but it is probable that they will turn out to 
be distinct. None of my specimens shows more than the cara- 
pace, and that considerably crushed. 


XVIII.—Notes on Tortoises. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


Testudinella Horsfieldit. 


General Goldsmid has kindly presented to the British Mu- 
seum a small and a larger specimen of the shell of a tortoise, 
the large one wanting the front of the sternum, from Rud-I- 
Mil, Chuh Suguti to Duruh, in Persia, which were collected 
on March 23rd, 1871; they evidently belong to this species, 
though we have not the animal to determine the number of its 
claws. 

The two specimens are exceedingly like Peltastes greecus in 
general character, but are much more depressed, and the horny 


144 Dr. J. E. Gray on Tortoises. 


dorsal plates are pale, with a darker edge and a dark diffused 
spot in the middle of the areola; the front sides of the upper 

art of the marginal plates are brownish ; the sternum is varied 
with diffused black marks ; the caudal marginal plate is marked 
with a central groove. 


RHINOCLEMMYS. 
The species of this very natural genus may be thus divided:— 


I. Shell black above and below ; sternum with a pale (when alive red ?) 
lateral stripe. Costals not spotted. Head black, with a streak on 
each side, sometimes united in front. 


1. Rhinoclemmys melanosterna. 
Head black, with a white streak on the side of the nose and 
head. (Gray, P. Z.S. 1870, p. 722, fig. 1.) 
Emys dorsalis, Spix (young) ? 


2. Rhinoclemmys scabra. 
Head black, with a small spot on each side of the nose 
and of the crown, a diverging streak on each side of the 
head, and a round spot on the occiput. (Gray, . c. fig. 2.) 


3. Rhinoclemmys lunata. 
Head black, with a spot on each side of the nose and occiput, 
and a streak on each side of the head, united across the fore- 


head. (Gray, U. c. fig. 3.) 


II. Shell blackish above and below ; sternum with pale lateral stripes, 
with a spot on each side of the nose and numerous longitudinal 
stripes on the side of the crown. 


4, Rhinoclemmys callocephala. 
Geoclemmys callocephala, Gray, P. Z.S. 1863, p. 254, fig. (head) ; Suppl. 
Cat. Shield Rept. p. 28, fig. 10 (head), 


Hab. Tropical America. 


III. Shell olive above, with a pale spot in the centre of the areola of 
each costal, surrounded by pale rings in the young ; beneath black, 
with a pale margin. 


5. Rhinoclemmys frontalis, n. sp. 

Head dark olive, nose with a narrow central streak above 
and a narrow streak on the lateral margin extending to over 
the orbits. 

Hab. Tropical America. 

An adult specimen was purchased from the Zoological Society 
in the year 1864. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Tortoises. 145 


Head olive, with a narrow longitudinal central streak on the 
upper part of the nose, a narrow white streak from the upper 
part of the nostrils to the front of the orbit, and a narrow white 
streak from the upper part of the nose, continued along the 
side of the crown over the orbit and the outer side of the tem- 
poral muscles to over the tympanum. 

The shell olive above, with a distinct oblong, broad, pale 
streak over the middle of the areola of the costal plates. The 
sternum and underside of margin blackish, with a broad yel- 
lowish white band (perhaps bright red when alive) down each 
side of the sternum. ‘There is a pale mark on the middle of 
each marginal plate, more distinct on the hinder plates. 
Under surface and side of face and neck whitish ; side of neck 
punctulated with black. 

This species has the peculiar pale spot which was previously 
regarded as characteristic of Rhinoclemmys mexicana; but it 
has quite a different head. 

6. Ehinoclemmys mexicana. 


Rhinoclemmys mexicana, Gray, P.Z. 8. 1870, p. 659, fig. (head), 1871, 
p. 296, t. 28, 


IV. Shell blackish, with more or less distinct pale rays ; underside black, 
with a pale band round the margin, and pale triangular spots 
on the underside of the front and hinder marginal plates ; nose with 
a central longitudinal streak ; crown white-varied ; sides of head 
with a diverging black-edged streak. 


7. Rhinoclemmys annulata, Gray, l.c. fig. 5 (head). 
Hab. Ecuador. 


8. Rhinoclemmys pulcherrima. 

I described and figured a young specimen of a freshwater 
tortoise in the British Museum, said to have come from Mexico, 
under the name of Hmys pulcherrima, Cat. Shield Rept. p. 25, 
t. xxv. f.2. The large cavity in the centre of the sternal 
bones, like what is found in the young Rhinoclemmys, and the 
short scarcely webbed toes make me think that it is most likely 
a Rhinoclemmys, or at least very nearly allied to it. The spe- 
cimen is very young, the marginal bones being very rudi- 
mentary and only slender, half-ovate. It must be the young 
state of a very large species. 

The alveolar surface of the jaws appears to be like that of 
Rhinoclemmys ; but the colouring of the back is very different 
from that of any known species, and may indicate a new genus. 


9. Rhinoclemmys ventricosa. 
Shell oblong, broad, ventricose. Back swollen on the sides. 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol. xi. 10 


146 Dr. J. E. Gray on Tortoises. 


Vertebral plates keeled, more especially the three hinder ones. 
Above black ; under margin and sternum white, with a large 
black blotch occupying the greater part of the middle of each 
sternal shield. Sternum flat, rather convex, greatly bent up 
in front. Shell 74 inches long, 53 inches wide. 

Hab. Tropical America (Mus. Utrecht, no. 39). 


This shell was at one time taken for a specimen of Hardella 
Thurgi; but it is very unlike, and is at once known from that 
genus by the peculiar triangular form of the first pair of mar- 
ginal plates, as in the other species of this genus. The dorsal 
and side of marginal plates have a more or less dark spot in 
the centre of the areola. 


Emys Fraseri, n. sp. 

Shell olive, minutely darker-spotted; underneath darker, 
black-varied. Front legs with a series of four or five large 
plates on the outer edge, and with two larger plates on the upper 
part of the outer side of the front legs. Jaws strong, with a 
rather broad alveolar surface. 


Hab. Lake Tetzara, Algiers. Shell 8 inches long. 


This species has much the appearance of Hryma laticeps, 
with which it has been confounded; but the head is much 
longer, and the alveolar surface of the two jaws narrower. It 
agrees with Hmys caspica in the shape and proportions of its 
head; but the alveolar surface of the jaws is much wider. 

I donot know if Hmys caspica is also found in Algiers ; but 
we have in the British Museum four very young Terrapins 
(one brought by E. Doubleday, one by Canon Tristram, and 
two by Mr. Fraser) from that country, which have a red stripe on 
each costal plate, and a black sternum, like the young mys 
caspica. Perhaps this character is common to the young of 
the two species. One of these I have called Lmys Fraser? in the 


‘Suppl. Cat. Shield Rept.’ p. 36. - 


CHRYSEMYS. 
We have in the museum three distinct forms of this genus, 
which in a large series do not appear to pass into each other, 
and which have special localities. 


1. Chrysemys picta. 


Sternum one-coloured, pale edge of the front discal plate 
broad ; lateral angles of the second, third, and fourth vertebral 
plates anterior; marginal plates with a central spot and con- 
centric rings above, and a yellow spot beneath. 

Hab. North America, Eastern States. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on» Tortoises. 147 


2. Chrysemys pulchra, n. sp. 


Sternum with a large central blotch sinuated on the sides ; 
pale edge to all the discal plates narrow, uniform ; the outer 
angle of the vertebral plates in the middle of their margin ; the 
marginal plates with a small central marginal spot and two or 
three interrupted pale rings above, and a large spot and pale 
ring, with a broad black edge, beneath. 

Hab. North America, Mississippi (Brandt). 


The specimens in the museum have been called Emys ore- 
goniensis (Fitzinger) by Brandt ; but they are notL. oregoniensis 
of Harlan, which certainly is what I previously called C. Bell’. 
They may be one of the four species that Agassiz names but 
does not characterize. 


3. Chrysemys Belli. 


Sternum with a blotch in the centre, which is longest over 
the suture of the plates; the yellow edge of the discal plates 
narrow, uniform ; the outer angles of the vertebral plates in 
the middle of the lateral margin; marginal plates with a pale 
edge, and divided into halves by a pale cross band; costal 
plates with a simple or forked subcentral pale cross band. 

Emys Bellit, Gray, Syn. Rept. 


Emys oregoniensis, Harlan, t. 31; Holbrook, t. 16. 
Young. Actinemys marmorata, Lord. 


Hab. West coast of North America; British Columbia. 


Trachemys lineata, n. sp. 


This species is very like 7. Holbrookii ; but the pale mark- 
ings of the vertebral shields are quite different, they bemg 
elongate and separate from each other—the lines of the different 
plates nearly meeting together, forming a series of continuous, 
more or less bent, Imes on each side of the very narrow central 


le; the black spots on the sternum are large and solid. 
Hab. North America. 


There is a young specimen in the British Museum with fine, 
slender, obscure markings on the vertebral plates, and numerous 
regular black spots with pale centre on the sternum. This 
specimen is somewhat like the young specimen figured by 
Agassiz (Contrib. t. 3. fig. 9) as 7. elegans ; but it is also like 
the young specimen he has figured as 7. rugosa (t. 16. fig. 4), 
but perhaps more like the former. 

Trachemys lineata is at once known from 7. Holbrookii by 
the slender lines on the vertebral plates. In the other species 
of the genus the pale and dark lines are in more or less oblong 
rings on each side of the vertebral plate, peculiar and complete 

1 


148 Dr. J. KE. Gray on Tortoises. 


in each plate. There is no doubt that the lines in 7. lineata 
are a modification of this form: but the ends of the loops do 
not exist; for they would be out of the margin of the plate. 


Callichelys concinna, n. sp. 

Head elongate, chin convex. Shell very ventricose, longi- 
tudinally rugose on the costal plates ; brownish olive, with a 
roundish, dark, solid spot on the hinder angle of the fourth 
costal, and on the suture of each marginal plate both above and 
below. 

Hab. San Mateo, Tehuantepec: freshwater lagoons. 

Length of shell 12 or 114 inches. 

This species is very like Callichelys ornata ; but the head is 
longer, and neither of the two specimens has any dark areolar 
spot on the hinder edge of the dorsal plates, and the spots on 
the margin are solid and not ringed. ‘The upper jaw is notched 
in front. The shell is ventricose like Pseudemys ventricosa, 
but quite differently marked. 


Damonia Reevesti. (Hairy Tortoise.) 

Dr. William Lockhart in 1865 presented to the museum a 
young freshwater tortoise, which is closely covered with a long, 
simple, filiform species of Conferva, from the Kiu-Kiang 
Yangtse. 

These tortoises have excited considerable interest from their 
having been figured by the Chinese in their books and on their 
paper-hangings, and have been regarded by some naturalists 
as a very peculiar animal,—in fact a hairy reptile. They 
are figuied on the titlepage of Temminck and Schlegel’s ‘ Fauna 
Japonica ;’ but they are only a freshwater tortoise or terrapin, 
with a species of simple Conferva parasitic on their backs. 
They are collected and much esteemed in China; and an 
account of them has been reprinted from Cooper’s travels in a 
former volume of this Journal (1871, vol. vill. p. 72). 

I have abstained trom describing this species, in the hope 
that I might obtain a more fully developed specimen ; but it is 
of little consequence, as the characters of the genera do not 
alter during age, though the species modifies its form ; but the 
rules of these modifications are well understood, and the young 
animal shows the markings of the head more distinctly. I 
have no doubt that itis a very young state of a tortoise which 
the late Mr. John Reeves brought from China many years ago, 
and which I figured in the ‘Illustrations of Indian Zoology’ 
under the name of Hmys Reevesi’. It is now called Damonia 
Reevesii. We at first only received specimens about 3 inches 
long; but now they are brought over nearly as large again. 


Bibliographical Notices. 149 


The specimen we received from Dr. Lockhart is 12 inch 
long. The head is olive, with a short dark-edged white streak 
from the middle of the hinder edge of the eye, and from the 
upper hinder edge of the eye a longer dark-edged white streak, 
which is forked behind; the upper branch extends along the 
side of the neck, and the lower one over the tympanum; on 
the other side of the head the upper line is interrupted and 
broken into three parts. 


Dumerilia madagascariensis. 


The British Museum has just received the skeleton of an 
adult freshwater tortoise from Anuavandra (on the west coast of 
Madagascar), which has been named Dumerilia madagascarien- 
sis by Grandidier. It has been arranged with Pelomedusa. It 
belongs to the tribe Peltocephalina of the family Peltocephalidee, 
which is essentially a South-American family, this genus being 
the only exception. It chiefly differs from the genus Pelto- 
cephalus in having, according to M. Grandidier (for, of course, 
they are not to be seen in the skeleton), two short beards on the 
chin, which are entirely wanting in that genus, and two series of 
oblique lunate shields on the outer surface of the tail. The 
alveolar surface of the upper jaw is broad, with an angular 
ridge near and parallel to the sharply acute outer margin. ‘The 
alveolar surface of the lower jaw is narrow in front, much 
broader behind, with a rather convex ridge, becoming broader 
behind, occupying a great part of its surface, and with a groove 
parallel and quite close to the outer edge. 

The head is like that of Peltocephalus, but is more depressed 
and the crown flat and broad. ‘The nose is shorter, and the 
lower jaw not with such an acute point; and the upper jaw is 
not so sinuated in front. The frontal plate is hexangular, 
elongated behind ; and the temporal plates are largeand meeting 
in the centre behind the frontal one, whereas in Peltocephalus 
the central plate is very large and separates the temporals to the 
occiput ; but in other respects the two genera are very similar. 
It is a much smaller species, the shell of the adult animal being 
only 12 inches long. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 


Records of the Rocks ; or Notes on the Geology, Natural History, and 
Antiquities of North and South Wales, Devon, and Cornwall. By 
the Rev. W.S. Symonns, F.G.S. &e. 8vo. London, 1872. 


Tue author says, “ This book . . . . is written for amateurs who, 
like myself, enjoy passing their leisure hours among rocks, old castles, 
old authors, and the wild flowers of strange wayside places. It does 


150 Bibliographical Notices. 


not assume to be a strictly scientific description of the geological 
structure of the different tracts of country to which it alludes; but I 
trust it is correct as far as it goes.” It begins with a general petro- 
graphico-geological introduction, and proceeds with a dilettante 
account of the districts mentioned in the titlepage, with the suc- 
cessive geological formations as the basis for a systematic collocation 
of every thing the author finds cause to put together, in a pleasant 
talky style, from his note-books and his memory, from his geological 
text-books and local guide-books, his county-histories and his library 
in general, but more especially from the late Sir Roderick Murchison’s 
standard work ‘ Srrvr1a.’ 

In fact the ‘Records of the Rocks’ may be succinctly described as 
consisting of ‘Siluria’ deeply diluted with antiquarian gossip, folk- 
lore, local botany, and recent geological notings, the prominent per- 
sonage in that book being replaced by the ego and his friends in this. 
It is garnished with 82 woodcuts, of which 62 have been taken 
bodily, descriptions and all, from ‘ Siluria’ without any special refer- 
ences, but noticed generally in the preface only as an enrichment for 
Mr. Symonds’s volume. 

Although fully appreciating the advantage to the amateur geolo- 
gist, whether indoor or out, of his having in his guide-book or 
book of reference such good illustrations as those transferred from 
‘Siluria’ to this general itinerary and field-book for Mr. Symonds’s 
favourite districts, we must regret that their respective relationships 
with the original are not carefully acknowledged by proper indica- 
tions, and that their transference is not in every case unaccompanied 
with avoidable mistakes. 

Printed in good legible type, and with little pretence of indicating 
technical words, this book is intended for easy-going amateurs 
‘round the Wrekin,” and will serve them for a pleasant book of 
reference. The geologist, too, will find much readable information 
here and there throughout its pages, if he cares to winnow it out 
from among country-seats and personal hi.tory—such as the résumé 
of the Cambrian rocks and fossils at one end, and of the bone-caves 
at the other, also of the Drift observed in the Woolho e Valley 
(p. 165), &. There is, however, quite sufficient to bear out the 
author’s statement that the book is not strictly scientific. hus the 
woodeut at p. 72 and its description are transferred from ‘ Siluria’ 
without the corrections from the list of errata of that work, and 
the cut at p. 215, with the old references, instead of new ores to Mr. 
Woodward's perfect monograph ; the descript'o. of the cut at p. 261, 
modified by an idea taken from the page opposite the cut in ‘ Siluria,’ 
carries more than the exact truth ; at p. 271 the asterisk left under 
the cut finds its meaning only in ‘Siluria;’ at p. 281 the name of 
fig. 1 has not been corrected, whilst the new name of fig. 2 is indi- 
cated by an initial only. The supposition that Sequoca is a “fir” 
(p. 289), and the making Mr. Lankester hold a fossil fish in two 
genera at once (p. 184), are weak points ; and the misprints of names 
of fossils are too frequent,—as “ Palceopyge,” ‘* Bowmannii,” “ as- 
permus,” “ Illoenus,” ‘‘ hemispherica,” ‘“ Platychisma,” “ Euglypha 


Bibliographical Notices. 151 


cardiola,” ‘‘ Paleaster,” ‘“ Brodei,” ‘ Cronchii,” “ ecrenistra.” We 
imagine that» Heterostracon” and ‘“ Osteostracon Cephaspide ” 
(p. 219) should be either English, Heterostracous and Osteostracous 
Cephalaspids, or properly converted into the Latin form. 

The guidance of the Author, of Mr. Jones, gardener at Builth, and 
other good people, is recommended passim to the reader ; and papers 
in the ‘Geological Magazine’ and other useful periodicals are cited 
for information old and new: but why the only perfect geological 
work on North Wales (Geol. Surv. Mem. yol. iii.), the real basis of 
Mr. Symonds’s country, should not have been kept well before the 
reader, and why the guidance of the Geological Surveyors should 
have been so little thought of, it is difficult to conjecture. 

We have thus pointed out several matters for improvement in this 
well-intentioned book, which we hope will be required in a new 
edition. Written by one who has known his country-side, with cul- 
tivated intelligence and an eye for nature, for many years, and who 
has long enjoyed the companionship of good observers, thinkers, and 
writers, the Rev. Mr.Symonds’s ‘ Records of the Rocks,’ like his other 
writings, 1s directed, with a good and useful aim, to the advance of 
knowledge among the so-called ‘ educated,” but frequently little- 
informed, class of society. Itis a learned and comprehensive guide- 
book, thoroughly imbued with a love of nature in her many aspects, 
and with a desire that all should benefit by an intelligent recognition 
of the natural sciences and by scientific pursuits, 


A Manual of Palwontology for the Use of Students, with a General 
Introduction on the Principles of Palwontology. By H. A. NicHot- 
son, M.D., D.Sc., d&e. S8vo. Edinburgh, 1872. 


Scnoots and colleges now find themselves better provided with 
zoological and paleontological text-books than heretofore. Dr. 
Nicholson’s ‘Manual of Paleontology’ has several good points. 
Though very comprehensive it is not too diffuse (only to Graptolites, 
a favourite subject, are a few extra pages given); it keeps the con- 
ditions of fossilization and geological succession well before the reader 
(especially in Parts I. and IV.)—and treats the Vertebrate remains 
less in detail than the Invertebrate, in accordance with the larger 
acquaintance the student has usually to make with the latter than 
with the former. 

Part III., on fossil Plants, treated of as the successive floras of 
geological periods, is a useful addition to the paleozoology, and is 
carefully worked as far as it goes; but unaccountably it makes no 
mention of the Diatomacez and the Calciferous Algz (Lithothamnium 
&e.), which, like Chara, play such an important part in the consti- 
tution of many strata. 

The author judiciously handles fossils of obscure affinities, such as 
Stromatopora, Receptaculites, Crossopodia, &e. But a study of Mr. 
Albany Hancock’s memoir “on Vermiform Fossils,” in the ‘Annals 
of Natural History’ for 1858, would have enlightened him on the 
nature of the last-mentioned fossil and its innumerable allies, in- 


152 Miscellaneous. 


cluding even some of the O/ldhamia, Kophytons, and Fucoids. Nor 
does he seem to be aware that two head-portions of Paleopyge 
(p. 167) have been found and published, thus removing it from the 
category of the doubtfuls. 

Dr. Nicholson’s illustrations are numerous and apt. They have 
been selected for the most part from such as the Geological Survey 
of Canada, Principal Dawson (author of ‘Acadian Geology’), the 
publishers of D’Orbigny’s ‘Cours élémentaire,’ and, he might have 
added, Page’s ‘ Text-book’ and his own ‘ 'l'ext-book of Zoology’ have 
supplied him with. Why the wretched Ventriculite at p. 70 should 
claim its paternity so boastfully from ‘‘ Lyell” is not clear. That the 
authorship of some only, and not of all the cuts (often as they may 
have been used before), should have been acknowledged is to be re- 
gretted ; for if the real origin of all the figures were carefully indi- 
cated, the student might have the opportunity of learning something 
more of the history of genera and species by referring to the original 
observers. Not but that many authors are mentioned in the text: 
by following, however, a good example in this matter, such as 
Dana’s excellent ‘ Manual of Geology,’ Dr. Nicholson would have 
improved his well-designed book ; and he would probably have been 
reminded that the Russian Mammoth skeleton (p. 445) is always a 
puzzle to tyros on account of its unexplained head-skin and shapeless 
hoofs, that the Ichthyosaur at p. 369, with outlined body, ought to 
have a fluked tail in the figure as well as in the text, and that Mr. 
S. V. Wood’s fine Alligator-relic, at p. 367,is an upper and not a 
lower jaw. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 
Anatomical Investigations on the Limuli. By A. Mrtnze-Epwarps. 


On June 26, 1869, I communicated to the Philomathic Society 
the first part of an investigation which I had just made upon the 
anatomy of the Zimuli; and a short abstract of this communication 
was inserted in the ‘ Bulletin’ of that learned Society and in the 
‘Journal de |’Institut.? This memoir, accompanied by numerous 
figures, ought to have been printed soon afterwards ; but the unhappy 
circumstances under which France laboured in 1870 and 1871 
prevented its publication, and it is only now that I am able to bring 
it out in its entirety. 

The first notions that we possess as to the internal organization of 
the Zimuli date from 1828, and are due to Strauss-Diirckheim. 
Ten years afterwards Van der Hoeven published on the whole group 
a very carefully executed monograph ; but all the anatomical part of 
his work, which was studied by means of individuals preserved in 
spirit, leaves much to be desired, and we observe in it serious errors, 
which, however, it was almost impossible to avoid under the 
circumstances in which this author found himself. 

About the same time Duvernoy added some details to what was 
previously known as to the respiratory apparatus of the Zimulti. In 


Miscellaneous. 153 


1855, Professor Owen inserted in his ‘ Lectures on the Anatomy of 
Invertebrata’ warious facts with regard to the structure of these 
singular Arthropoda; and quite recently an English journal an- 
nounced that this illustrious naturalist had resumed the investigation 
of the same subject; but his work is as yet known only by an 
abstract published in 1871. Some points relating to the histology 
of the Limul have been treated by M. Gegenbaur; and works of 
great interest on the habits of these animals, on their embryology, 
and on their zoological affinities, have been published by MM. 
Lockwood, Packard, Dohrn, and E. van Beneden. Finally, Mr. 
Woodward, in several consecutive memoirs, has presented us with 
very interesting observations upon the relations of the Limult with 
the Trilobites, the Pterygoti, and various articulate animals, the 
remains of which occur in the fossil state in the Silurian, Devonian, 
and Carbeniferous formations. 

I have no intention of discussing here the questions relating to 
the zoological affinities which may exist between the Zimuli and the 
extinct species of ancient geological periods. My observations relate 
to the anatomy of these animals, and principally to the constitution 
of their circulatory apparatus and to the structure of their nervous 
system. 

The circulatory apparatus of the Zimulti is more perfect and 
complicated than that of any other articulate animal. The venous 
blood, instead of being diffused through interorganic lacune, as in 
the Crustacea, is for a considerable portion of its course enclosed in 
proper vessels with walls perfectly distinct from the adjacent organs, 
originating frequently by ramifications of remarkable delicacy, and 
opening into reservoirs which are for the most part well circum- 
scribed. The nutritive liquid passes from these reservoirs into the 
branchie, and, after having traversed these respiratory organs, 
arrives, by a system of branchio-cardiac canals, in a pericardiac 
chamber, then penetrates into the heart, of which the dimensions 
are very considerable. It is then driven into tubular arteries with 
resistant walls, the arrangement of which is exceedingly complex, 
with frequent anastomoses, and of which the terminal ramifications 
are of marvellous tenuity and abundance. By making use of the 
microscope we can trace them, with their contours still well defined, 
even into the substance of the finest and most transparent mem- 
branes (for example, the intestinal coats and even the floor of the 
pericardiac chamber); we see them also, by employing sutticient 
magnifying-power, in the midst of the primitive muscular fibres, 
which they do not even equal in diameter; and some of those which 
I measured had a calibre of less than =, millim. 

One of the most striking peculiarities of this vascular apparatus 
consists in its relations with the nervous system. Thus the ab- 
dominal artery, formed by the union of the two aortic branches, 
ensheathes the whole of the ganglionic chain: most of the nerves 
are lodged in the branches which spring from this median vessel. 

These relations of the apparatus of innervation with the arterial 
system of the Limuli were perceived, although very imperfectly, by 


154 Miscellaneous. 


Prof. Owen, and are more intimate than that eminent anatomist 
seems to think. In fact the nervous chain of these animals is not 
- simply enveloped by the ventral blood-reservoir, and fixed to it in 
such a way as to be difficult to distinguish from it, but is enclosed 
in it; and this reservoir does not consist of a simple interorganic 
lacuna due to the disappearance of the arterial walls in this por- 
tion of the animal economy. It is not a case of juxtaposition of 
the nerves and arteries; it is a complete ensheathment of the 
former by the latter. The nerves destined for the integuments 
alone constitute an exception to this; they are free, and the vascu- 
lar walls only accompany them to a small distance from their 
origin. 

The principal arterial trunks open freely into one another, in 
such a manner that the blood can traverse a circulatory course 
without passing through the veins. These ways of communication 
are wide and easy; but there are others, formed by the terminal 
capillaries of the arterial system, which are continuous with 
the roots of the venous system. The latter is formed in part by 
interorganic lacune, in part by tubular vessels with perfectly di- 
stinct walls and presenting all the characters of true veins. This 
last mode of organization exists throughout in the substance of the 
liver. The hepatic veins open into a wide trunk situated on each 
side at the ventral part of the body, and giving origin to the 
afferent vessels of the branchie. The neighbouring muscles are 
arranged so as to act upon these venous trunks, and can cause alter- 
nately their contraction or dilatation. The blood which, by means 
of this mechanism, has traversed the respiratory apparatus, after- 
wards passes into the pericardiac reservoir. 

The origin of the nerves which go to the different appendages 
enables us to determine the homologies of these parts, and to esta- 
blish that in the Zimulti there are no antennz, as has been supposed 
by some anatomists. Lastly, I shall add that the visceral ganglionic 
system is not composed only of stomato-gastric and angeian ganglia 
in connexion with the cesophageal collar; there are also small 
nervous centres attached to the ganglionic chain, and furnishing 
branches to the terminal portion of the digestive tube.—Comptes 
Rendus, Dec. 2, 1872, pp. 1486-1488. 


On the Boomdas (Dendrohyrax arboreus). 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. 


The British Museum has lately received three skins, with their 
skulls, of a species of Dendrohyraw from Elands-Post, South-east 
Africa. 

They appear to be the Boomdas, Dendrohyrax arboreus of my 
monograph. ‘This species was first described by Dr. Andrew Smith 
as Hyrax arboreus, and is known from the D. dorsalis of the west 
coast of Africa by the fur being much longer and softer, and the 
dorsal streak yellowish white ; but the great difference is to be ob- 
served in the skull. 


Miscellaneous. 155 


The skull of Dendrohyrax dorsalis is elongate and depressed, 
that of Dendrohyrax arboreus is short and high. The hinder part 
of the lower jaw of D. dorsalis is moderately dilated, and the 
back edge ascending from the condyle is gradually rounded off; 
whereas in D. arboreus the hinder part is much more dilated, and 
the ascending edge is straight nearly to the hinder end and then 
rounded. 

The following measurements show the most striking differences 
between the skulls of the two species :— 

D. dorsalis. D. arboreus. 
inches. inches. 


Length of adult skull .............. = 32 
Heirht of skull ok. cacgzeisiait steal nn oe Z 214 
Length of lower tooth-line .s........ 1 4 
Width of upper part of lowerjaw .... 13 15 


The skull of D. arboreus is most like that of Hyrax Burtoni in its 
height, but differs in the shape of the lower jaw and by the very 
small diastemata, especially that of the lower jaw. 


On Deep-sea Dredging in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
By J. F. Wurtnaves, F.G.8. &c. 


To the Editors of the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 


Montreal, Dee. 20, 1872. 
GrntLEMEN,—As I did not see any proofs of my article on Deep- 
sea dredging in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (published in the ‘ Annals,’ 
ser. 4, vol. x.no. 59), I should be glad if you would correct the fol- 
lowing typographical and other errors which occur in it. 


Page 343, lines 14 and 15 from the bottom of the page, for “only a 
portion of these have ” read “ only a few of these have.” 

Page 347, at the bottom, it appears as if two species of Retepora were 
collected ; the specimens all belong to that form which Smitt calls 
Retepora cellulosa, var. elongata. 

Page 349. Under the head Dacrydium vitreum the phrase occurs, 
“This and the preceding are new to America.” The words with 
quotation marks belong to the preceding species, Yoldia frigida ; 
Dacrydium vitreum is not new to America, but Yoldia frigida and 
lucida are. 

Page 350. The asterisk placed before Utriculus pertenuis belongs to 
U. hyalinus ; specimens of the latter shell had been identified by 
me as Bulla debilis, Gould. My intention was to give Mr. Jeffreys 
as the authority for the statement that Bulla hyalina, Turton, and 
B. debilis, Gould, are synonymous. 

Page 352, lines 10 and 11 from the bottom. Strike out the words 
‘if any such there are.” 


Additions and Alterations. 


Foramrntrera. The long-spined Marginulina described on page 343 
is, I believe, Marginulina spinosa, M. Sars. 


156 Miscellaneous. 


Actinozoa. Prof. Verrill thinks (and I quite agree with him) that 
the St.-Lawrence Pennatula is a well-marked variety of Pennatula 
aculeata, Danielssen. This latter species he considers to be distinet 
from P. phosphorea. My St.-Lawrence specimens vary so much in 
their characters that I am not yet satisfied on this latter point. 
For the present the St.-Lawrence specimens may be provisionally 
called Pennatula aculeata, Danielssen, var. canadensis. Those who 
accept Kolliker’s views as to specific differences in this group 
would regard the Canadian sea-pen as one of the many protean 
forms of P. phosphorea. 

Urticina digitata (Mill.). Recognized by Prof. Verrill among speci- 
mens dredged in 120 fathoms off Bear Head, Anticosti. 

Zoanthus (sp.) is Epizoanthus americanus, teste Verrill. 

Moxuvsca. Dentalium abyssorum, Sars. Adult but dead specimens 
of a Dentalium dredged last year were referred to this species. 
Having since taken the same shell alive in all stages of growth, 
I now doubt the correctness of this identification. It is never 
pentagonal when young; and I believe it is the shell originally 
described by Dr. Gould, though erroneously, as Dentalium dentale, 
his specimens being few and very imperfect. Its proper name is 
Dentalium occidentale, Stimpson, a perfectly good and distinct 
species, nearly related to D. abyssorwm—widely different from Hn- 
talis striolata, which has not yet been found north of the Bay of 
Chaleurs. 

Sipho Sarsii, Jeffreys. The proper name of this shell seems to be 
Sipho curtus (Jeffreys). 


Nitophyllum litteratum, a new British Alga. 
By Prof. T. G. Acarpu. 


This seaweed was received from Mrs. Griffith as Mitophyllum 
Hillie: but it is very different in the form of the leaflets ; the sori are 
not dot-like and scattered as in that species, but linear-oblong or 
variously shaped, scattered between the veins, looking, on the lower 
lobes, like letters or signs. 


“ N. litteratum, stipite brevi cuneato, in frondem venis dichotomo- 
anastomosantibus obscuriusculis inferne venosam, cuneato-reni- 
formem subpalmato-pinnatifidam abeunte lobis cuneato-linearibus 
margine minute undulato-crenulatis, basi contractis, soris inter 
venas seriatis figuras irregulares inter se plus minus confluentes 
formantibus. 


“ Hab. Ad littora meridionalia Angliw.”—Lunds Univ. Arsskrift, 
t. viii. p. 49. 


On a new Freshwater Tortoise from Borneo (Orlitia borneensis). 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


OruITIA. 
Head covered with large plates, plain-coloured; lower jaw strong, 


Miscellaneous. 157 


acute, curved up at the tip ; alveolar plate of upper jaw narrow, with 
a raised inner margin, of lower Jaw narrow, sharp-edged. Toes short, 
well webbed to the end ; claws 5.4, short, acute. Thorax ovate, very 
convex, shelving on the sides, with a blunt and interrupted vertebral 
keel. Vertebral plates in the young as broad as long, front one 
narrowed behind ; second, third, and fourth hexagonal; fifth much 
smaller, square. First, second, and third costal plates large, angular 
above ; the fourth very small, square, only as high as the small fifth 
vertebral. Marginal plates broad, hinder four much narrower, with 
a serratededge. Nuchal plate broad, well developed. All the discal 
and upper part of the marginal plates in the young with a very large 
punctate areola. Sternum flat, strongly keeled on the sides. Anal 
shields small. Tail short. 

The general form is very peculiar, somewhat like Cuora; but the 
sternum is perfectly solid, and there is no indication of any mobility 
of the two lobes. The animal differs externally in the head being 
one-coloured, without any band over the eye. 


Orlitia borneensis. 

Cistudo borneensis, Bleeker. 

Hab. Borneo (Bleeker). 

I mentioned this specimen under Cuora amboinensis in the ‘ Suppl. 
Cat. Shield Rept.’ p. 21; but on reexamination I am satisfied that it 
has no relation to that species. It is evidently the young of a very 
large and solid species ; for even this young specimen is well solidified, 
though there is an oblong groove (the remains of the opening of the 
yelk-bag) in the central suture of the abdominal and preanal plates, 


Descriptions of three new Species of Crustacea parasitic on the 
Cetacea of the N.W. Coast of America. By W.H. Datt, U.S. Coast 
Survey. 

Genus Cyamus, Lam. 

Cyamus, Lam. Syst. An. s. Vert. p. 166; Bate & Westwood, ii. p. 80. 

Larunda and Panope, Leach. 

Cyamus Scammoni, n. sp.—Male. Body moderately depressed, of 
an egg-ovate form; segments slightly separated ; third and fourth 
segments furnished with a branchia at each side; this, near its base, 
divides into two cylindrical filaments spirally coiled from right to 
left ; at the base of each branchia are two slender accessory filaments 
not coiled, quite short, and situated one before and the other behind 
the base of the main branchia; second pair of hands kidney-shaped, 
with the carpal articulation halfway between the distal and proxi- 
mal ends, and having two pointed tubercles on the inferior edge, 
‘before the carpal joint ; third and fourth segments somewhat punctate 
above, all the others smooth, the sixth and seventh slightly serrate 
on the upper anterior edge, and without ventral spines. Colour yel- 
lowish white. Long. -70, lat. -39 in., of largest specimen. 

Female similar to the male in all respects, excepting in being a 


158 Miscellaneous. 


little more slender, and in wanting the accessory appendages to the 
branchiz ; the ovigerous sacs are four in number, overlapping each 
other. 

Hab. On the California grey whale (Rhachianectes glaucus of Cope) 
on the coast of California, very numerous. ‘This species is named in 
honour of Capt. C. M. Scammon, U.S. Rev. Marine, well known by 
his studies on the cetaceans. The specimens here described were 
collected and submitted by him for description, and will be figured 
in his forthcoming monograph of the West Coast whales. I may 
remark here that these species are all so distinct from those figured 
by Milne-Edwards, Gosse, Bate, and Westwood, that a comparative 
description has seemed unnecessary—also that the species obtained 
on different species of cetaceans have so far been found invariably 
distinct. The inference is, of course, that each cetacean has its 
peculiar parasites, a supposition which agrees with our knowledge of 
the facts in many groups of terrestrial animals. 

Cyamus suffusus, n. sp.—Body flattened, elongate ; segments sub- 
equal, outer edges widely separated; branchie single, cylindrical, 
slender, with a very short papilliform appendage before and behind 
each branchia; superior antennz unusually long and stout ; first pair 
of hands quadrant-shaped; second pair slightly punctate, arcuate, 
emarginate on the inferior edge, with a pointed tubercle on each side 
of the emargination; third joint of the posterior legs keeled above, 
with a prong below; pleon extremely minute; segments all smooth ; 
no ventral lines on the posterior segments. Colour yellowish white, 
suffused with rose-purple, strongest on the antenne and branchie. 
Length -41, breadth (of hody) -25 in. All the specimens which 
have passed under my observation, some eight or ten in number, 
were males. 

Hab, On the “humpback” whale (Megaptera versabilis, Cope), 
Monterey, California. 

Cyamus mysticeti, n. sp.—Body flattened, subovate, segments ad- 
jacent; branchiz single, short, stout, pedunculated, a single papilli- 
form appendage behind each ; head short and wide ; first pair of legs 
very small; hands all simple and smooth, fingers greatly recurved ; 
carpal articulation in the second pair of hands halfway between the 
proximal and distal ends of the hand; pleon very minute. Colour 
dark brownish yellow. Length ‘33 in., breadth (of body) :16 in. 
Two female specimens. 

Hab. On the northern “‘ bowhead” whale (probably Balena mys- 
ticetus, Linn.), near Behring Strait. 

This is the most compact of the three species, as well as the smallest. 
I find, in comparing large series of C. Scammoni, that a considerable 
variation in form obtains, so far as regards comparative length and 
breadth, even in adult specimens, and these differences are greater 
than those observed, in the same characters, between the sexes.— 
Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., Nov. 1872. 


Miscellanéous. 159 


Orca stenorhyncha (the Narrow-nosed Killer). 


I described a new Orca or Killer from a skeleton received by the 
British Museum from Weymouth. The skull is figured in the ‘Suppl. 
Cat. Seals and Whales,’ pp. 86-88, figs. 7-9. 

The authorities at the Zoologiska Riks-Museum at Stockholm have 
sent to the British Museum three large photographs of an animal 
which they have determined to be this species, and which was 
taken at Bohuslin in November 1871, showing that it is coloured 
like the other Killers, and that it (like Orca latirostris) is an in- 
habitant of the north seas.—J. E. Gray. 


Preliminary Descriptions of new Species of Mollusks from the North- 
west coast of America. By W. H. Dati, U.S. Coast Survey. 


Voluta (Scaphella) Stearnsii, Dall.—Shell large, slender, spindle- 
shaped, moderately thick ; colour livid purple, more or less obscured 
by an ashy-white outer layer, more conspicuous near the sutures: and 
on the callosity of the inner lip; exterior smooth (but not polished), 
except for the strong lines of increase ; sutures appressed ; siphonal 
fasciole strong; nucleus small, white, mammillated ; aperture more 
than half as long as the shell, white and livid purple, with a dash of 
brighter purple at the posterior notch and on the anterior portion of 
the callus; edge white; callus reflected, thick and strong, with a 
chink behind the anterior portion; canal twisted to the right, 
moderately deep; whorls 6-8. Long. 4:13 in., lat. 1°62 in., long. 
apert. 2°59 in. ; defl. 40°. Living, from stomach of cod, Shumagin 
Islands ; dead on beach, Gull rocks, Akutan Pass, and west side of 
Amaknak Island, Captain’s Bay, Unalashka. 

Nacella (?) rosea, Dall.—Shell small, egg-ovate, of a deep rose- 
colour, externally smooth, except for very faint radiating ridges 
divaricating from the apex, and for lines of growth ; margin entire ; 
apex minute, produced before the anterior margin; interior smooth, 
white, except the margins, which are polished and of the same colour 
as the exterior; nacre, especially when weathered, silvery. Long. 
35 in., lat. ‘27 in., alt. -12 in., of largest specimen. 

Dead on beach, east side of Simeonoff Island, Shumagins ; living, 
probably on Fuci, off shore. 

This, from its appearance, is probably a true Nacella, congeneric 
with the Cape-Horn species, and the first described from the northern 
hemisphere. Its occurrence with that of several other mollusks in 
the Aleutian fauna is remarkable; and the facts, on further inspec- 
tion, have developed a considerable resemblance between these an- 
tipodal faune. 

Littorina aleutica, Dall.—Shell depressed ; whorls 4, the nucleus 
including one and a half, last whorl much the largest ; spire depressed 
or nearly flattened ; colour variable, from dark brown or purple to 
waxen white, or banded with white on a darker ground; nucleus 
polished, dark brown, translucent; sculpture consisting of rather 


160 Miscellaneous. 


coarse lines of growth, and about six or eight nodulous revolving 
ridges, more or less strongly elevated in different specimens, the 
three middle ones being the most prominent, and faint revolving lines 
being also traceable occasionally between the ridges ;* aperture very 
oblique, smooth, white or purplish within ; outer lip sharp ; columella 
broad, straight, generally with a chink behind it; anterior margin 
a little produced. Long. :41 in., lat. -53 in., of an average specimen. 
Animal and operculum precisely as in L. sitkana, which was abun- 
dant on the same rocks. 

Hab. Living at Gull rocks, Akutan Pass, Aleutian Islands, abun- 
dantly (W. H. Dall). 

This isa very remarkable and distinct species, resembling no other 
on the west American coast. 

Nores.— Buccinum Kennicotti, Dall, proves, on obtaining specimens 
containing the soft parts and the operculum, to be a Chrysodomus. 
It was originally described as a Bucconum, in deference to the opinion 
of the late Dr. William Stimpson, who had recently monographed 
the northern species of that group. Its distribution is from the 
Shumagins eastward, not, as was originally reported, from Una- 
lashka. 

Buceinum Baeri, Midd., proves to be a very marked race of B. cya- 
neum. B. Fischerianum, Dall, which was suspected at the time it 
was described to be similarly related to B. cyaneum, proves to be 
distinct. 

Haliotis, which has long been tabulated as an inhabitant of the 
Aleutian chain, does not exist in that part of the archipelago east of 
Unalashka, and probably not in these islands at all_—Proceedings of 
the California Academy of Sciences, Oct. 8, 1872. 


Projectile Power of the Capsules of Hamamelis virginica. 
By Mr. T. Meruay. 


The Author said that while travelling through a wood recently 
he was struck in the face by some seeds of Hamamelis virginica, 
the common Witch-Hazel, with as much force as if these were 
spent shot from a gun. Not aware before that these capsules 
possessed any projecting-power, he gathered a quantity in order to 
ascertain the cause of the projecting force, and the measure of its 
power. Laying the capsules on the floor, he found the seeds were 
thrown generally four or six feet, and in one instance as much as 
twelve feet away. The cause of this immense projecting-power he 
found to be simply the contraction of the horny albumen which 
surrounded the seed. The seeds were oval, and in a smooth bony 
envelope; and when the albumen had burst and expanded enough 
to get just beyond the middle (where the seed narrowed again), the 
contraction of the albumen caused the seed to slip out with force, 
just as we should squeeze out a smooth tapering stone between the 
finger and thumb.—Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil. part i. p. 235 


(1872). 


THE ANNALS 
MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
[FOURTH SERIES.] 


No. 63. MARCH 1873. 


XIX.—On the Original Form, Development, and Cohesion of 
the Bones of the Sternum of Chelonians ; with Notes on 
the Skeleton of Sphargis. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


[Plates IV., V., & VI] 


Ir has long been known that the sternum of all Chelonians is 
formed of four pairs of bones with an odd one, which is always 
attached to the centre of the inner edge, opposite the suture 
between the front pair. In some Chelonians these bones 
always remain of nearly the same form, and are more or less 
separate from each other during the whole life of the animal. 
In the land Tortoises and the freshwater Tortoises or Terrapins 
the bones of the young become expanded as the animal grows, 
coalesce, and at length form in the adult animal a single bony 
disk. 

Cuvier, in his chapter on the “ Ostéologie des Tortues,” in 
the Oss. Foss. v. p. 204, observes :— 

“Dans les tortues de terre et d’eau douce, et dans les ché- 
lydes, ils ne laissent de vides entre eux que dans le premier 
age seulement, ot ils se forment de rayons osseux dirigés en 
divers sens dans le disque encore cartilagineux du plastron, 
comme les os du créne dans les fétus des mammiféres ; mais 
avec l’Age ces rayons se joignent de toute part et forment un 
disque compact dans toutes ses parties et qui s’unit par une 
étendue plus ou moins considérable de chaque cété au bouclier 
dorsal. Voyez pl. xu. f. 44, le plastron d’un jeune Testudo 
scabra.” 

The sternum figured is very like that here figured as belong- 
ing to Emys concentrica, and is quite different from that of 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 11 


162 Dr.J.E. Gray on the Development and Cohesion 


T. scabra of Latreille, which is figured here under the name 
of Rhinoclemmys scabra. Mr. Owen figures the skeleton of 
a young Testudo indica ‘ Phil. Trans.’ cxxxix. 1849, t. 19. 
f. 4-6. These are the only observations I have noticed on 
the form of the bones in the sternum of the young Chelonians. 
These authors did not seem to be aware of the great variation 
in the forms of the bones in the young of the different genera, 
the changes that they undergo during the growth of the animal, 
and the important assistance that their study affords in the 
arrangement of the animals. 


Land- Tortoises (Testudo). 


The bones of the sternum in young Land-Tortoises (Tes- 
tudo) are the same in number as in the Terrapins, but of very 
different form. The front two pairs and the hinder two pairs 
each form a very distinct group, separated bya more or less broad 
space across the middle of the sternum. The front pair of bones 
are generally large and well developed, and the odd bone on 
the inner side of them is triangular and usually small. The 
two lateral pairs are somewhat similar, broad and expanded, 
and more or less semilunar, each pair having a convex semi- 
circular edge towards the middle of the inner central vacant 
disk. The hinder pair are attached to the inner side of the 
outer edge of the hind lateral pair, and are generally united 
together. 

This formation is well exhibited in a specimen of Testudo 
tabulata (P1. IV. fig. 1) 24 inches long, and also in a specimen 
of 7. elephantopus (Pl. IV. fig. 2), about 4 inches long, and 
Testudo radiata, 24 inches. ‘The lateral bones in Testudo 
radiata and in T. indica are much more convex and irregular 
on the edge towards the centre of the sternum. 

In 7. platynota (Pl. IV. fig. 3), about 2 inches long, the 
lateral bones are of the same lunate shape as in 7. tabulata, 
but the lateral pair are much further apart. Perhaps this 
arises from the ossification being less developed. The lateral 
bones in 7. semiserrata, about 2 inches long, are similar to 
those of the young 7. tabulata, but rather more irregular 
in their outline; but the opposite bones are rather further 
apart, leaving a broader central space between them than in 
T. tabulata. 

These bones evidently enlarge in size, their edges approxi- 
mate, and at length join and coalesce. Thus TZ. stellata 
(Pl. IV. fig. 4) appears to become solidified when of a very 
small size; for in a specimen only 2 inches long the ribs are 
dilated and ossified nearly to the margin, and the sternal bones 
are very expanded, forming a nearly solid disk, leaving only 


of the Bones of the Sternum of Chelonians. 163 


a broad rhombic vacant space not quite half the width of the 
sternum; and in a specimen 2% inches long, this vacant space 
is reduced in size so as not to be a third of the diameter of the 
disk. But I think it is very probable that in the very young 
of this species the separate bones of which the sternum is com- 
posed are all more dilated than in the other species, although 
I have no specimens by which I can indicate this fact. 


Freshwater Tortoises or Terrapins. 


The sternum of the young Freshwater Tortoises is composed 
of the same number of bones (which are united together mto a 
bony disk in the adult animal) as that of the Land-Tortoises ; 
but these bones are very different in shape and disposition from 
those of the Land-Tortoises, and differ in the various groups, 
offering a curious subject of study, 

The sterna of the adult animals are naturally divided into 
three groups :— : 

Ist. The sternum solid, continuous, and firmly connected 
with the marginal and other bones of the dorsal disk by an 
ascending lateral process from each of the central lateral pair 
of bones. 

2nd. The sternum is only connected with the marginal 
plates of the dorsal disk by a cartilaginous suture or an adhe- 
sion between the bones of the sternum and the marginal 
plates. These are called Box Tortoises. 

The Box Tortoises present two forms :— 

In the true Box Tortoises the sternum is divided transversely 
into two portions, which close down on the cavity of the upper 
shell before and behind. ‘The suture is about the middle, 
between the two lateral bones—the front lobe consisting of 
the anterior and anterior lateral bones, and covered externally 
by the gular, pregular, and pectoral plates, the hinder por- 
tion consisting of the hinder lateral and the hinder sternal 
bones. It is covered externally by the abdominal, preanal, 
and anal shields. 

In the Trap Tortoises the sternum is divided into three 
portions by two transverse sutures. The middle one, which 
consists of the anterior and posterior lateral bones (which form 
a square central portion), is attached by a cartilaginous or 
more or less bony suture to the margin of the dorsal shield, and 
does not send any ribs up to the inner part of it. It is covered 
by two large abdominal shields. The front flap consists of the 
frontal pair of bones and the odd bone; the front pair are very 
much larger than usual. It is covered by the gular plates (which 
are generally soldered into one) and the intergular and pectoral 
plates (which are triangular). The hinder flap only consists 

; 1 


164 Dr.J.E. Gray on the Development and Cohesion 


of the hinder pair of bones, which are much larger than usual, 
and united by a straight median suture; it is covered by the 
preanal and anal plates. 

This form is described from the genera Swanka and Kino- 
sternon, where this modification of the sternum is in its most 
developed state. The sternum of the other genera is often 
narrow, and a portion is only slightly mobile, and the plates 
(which cover it) are diminished in number or coherent to- 
gether. 

The land-tortoise Pyxis and the fluviatile Sternotherus have 
the front lobe of the sternum free; but it is only the front 
lobe of the sternum that is free, the abdominal portion being 
firmly united to the marginal portion of the back, as in the 
tortoises with an undivided sternum. 

The true Box Tortoises consist of the family Cistudinide. 

The Trap Tortoises consist of the Chelydrade. 

3rd. All the other families of Freshwater Tortoises or Ter- 
rapins have a simple undivided sternum. 

One might premise that these three forms would each have 
a distinct development of the bones of which the sternum is 
formed, or that the bones of each of the three forms would be of 
the same shape and developed in the same manner during the 
growth of the animal. But the examination of the young 
specimens which have come under my observation (which, un- 
fortunately, are too few for the proper study of the subject) proves 
this not to be the case; and I am inclined to think that the 
study of the development of these bones may be subservient to 
the natural arrangement of these animals, and also a great 
assistance in the determination of the fossil species. 

The development of bones of the sternum of Freshwater 
Tortoises may be divided into three series, thus :— 

I. The nine bones in the very young state are well developed, 
the lateral bones being largely developed and covering the 
greater part of the middle of the sternum. ‘There is a mode- 
rate-sized vacant space in the middle of the sternum, and a 
smaller one at the hinder part of the sternum, between the 
inner hinder angles of the lateral pair of bones and the inner 
side of the hinder plates, and an oval space on each side of 
the angular odd bone between it and the inner front edge of 
the anterior lateral bone. 

This form is well exhibited in the sternum of Malaclemmys 
concentrica (Plate V. fig. 1) of the family Malaclemmyde, and of 
Pelomedusa subrufa (fig. 2), family Hydraspide. The anterior 
lateral bones are larger and more developed in Malaclemmys 
than in Pelomedusa; and this appears to be the most usual form 
of the sternum of the Freshwater Tortoises. 


of the Bones of the Sternum of Chelonians. 165 


In Chelydra serpentina, even when the shell reaches 7 inches 
length, the sternum is not united along the central longi- 
tudinal suture, and there is a triangular cavity on each side 
of the narrow lanceolate odd bone and the front end of the 
front lateral, and®a moderate-sized square unossified portion 
between the inner ends of the front and hinder lateral bones on 
the suture between the pectoral and abdominal plates. 

The sternum of the skeleton of the young Stawremys Salvinit 
in the British Museum is like that of Chelydra; but the inner 
edge of the front bones is further apart, and the odd sword- 
shaped bone is thinner and longer. 

II. In the second form the four pairs of bones form a ring 
round the margin of the sternum, the two pairs of lateral bones 
being the least developed and forming the narrowest part of 
the ring; leaving a large open space in the centre between all 
the bones which form the greater part of the sternum, with 
the point of the odd bone projecting into it. This form is well 
seen in the sternum of Cyclemys dhor (figs. 3), belonging to 
the family Cistudinide. 

Rhinoclemmys scabra (fig. 4). As this animal grows, the 
front part of the sternum becomes more dilated and extended 
externally on the front of the outer side. It is also to be ob- 
served in the animal that I have described and figured as Hmys 
pulcherrima (Cat. Sh. Rept. pl. xxv. fig. 1), which may be a 
Lhinoclemmys. These two latter terrapins belong to the 
family Emydide. 

Ill. This form is somewhat intermediate between the two 
former. The four pairs of bones in the young animal are even 
less developed, and form only a narrow ring round the margin 
of the sternum, leaving a very large part of the sternum only 
formed of membrane, occupying more of its space than even 
in the former kind; but the anterior lateral and posterior 
lateral bones throw out each a more or less narrow bony pro- 
cess across the space, dividing it into three portions. Into the 
front edge of the front one the small triangular odd bone pro- 
jects. In Notochelys platynota (Pl. IV. fig. 5) the front pair 
of bones is moderate. ‘The inner process of the front pair of 
lateral bones is small, but broad and divided into three or 
four finger-like lobes at the end. This belongs to the family 
Cistudinidee. 

In Kachuga (Pl. VI.) the front pair of bones is less deve- 
loped. ‘The inner lobes of the front lateral pair of bones are, 
as in the former, broader and divided into finger-like lobes at 
the end. The internal bony lobes of the hinder lateral bones 
are well developed, and like those of the front pair of bones, 
but much narrower; but, unlike the sternum of Notochelys 


166 Dr. J.E. Gray on the Development and Cohesion 


(Pl. IV. fig. 5), the hinder pair of bones are not united together 
behind, and each sends forth a lobe from the middle of the 
inner side, which eventually unite in the centre line, leaving 
a small posterior central space between the hinder ends of these 
bones. 

This form seems common and perhaps peculiar to the family 
Bataguride. I have figured the inside of the sternum of a ver 
young specimen of Kachuga major (P1. VI. fig. 1), which has the 
bones and lobes very slender. These parts are more developed in 
Kachuga dentata even in the youngest state, the outside of 
which is figured (fig. 2), and which has the posterior pair of 
bones; and in an older specimen in the British Museum this 
is also figured from the outside. 

In Morenia and Pangshura the hinder part of the sternum is 
ossified soonest if these vacant spaces exist in the very young 
specimens. 

In the young Morenita Berdmore?, about 4 inches long, there 
is an oblong longitudinal unossified space on each side between 
the branches of the sternum and the margin, and an elongate 
four-sided space in the centre between the sutures of the pec- 
toral and abdominal plates, and another rather smaller one 
between the preanal plates. There is a series of large spaces 
between the ends of the ribs and the marginal bone. 

In a skeleton of a half-grown Pangshura tecta there are two 
rhombic imperfections, the one placed between the sutures of 
the pectoral and abdominal plates, and a rather smaller one 
between the two preanal plates. 

This form bears some relation to the bones found in a very 
young Chelonia (Pl. VI. fig. 4), where the anterior bones are 
very narrow. ‘The anterior and posterior lateral bones of each 
side are separate from each other, having a simple rounded end ; 
each of them has two digitate external lobes, extending towards 
the margin of the dorsal disk: the anterior one has two 
simple processes towards and uniting at the centre ; the hinder 
one has a series of simple digitate processes extending towards 
the centre and hinder part of the sternum. 

Another form is very peculiar; and as yet I have only seen 
one example, in a very young specimen of E/seya dentata (P1.V. 
fig. 5), belonging to the Hydraspide, from Australia. The front 
pair of bones, the odd bone, and the front lateral bones are all 
united together and form a solid front half to the sternum. The 
hinder lateral bones and the hinder pair of bones are narrow, 
and form a margin to the hinder half of the sternum, leaving a 
very large triangular central space. In an older specimen the 
large naked space becomes filled up, except a very small oblong 
hole in the middle of the suture of the preanal plates, and a 


of the Bones of the Sternum of Chelonians. 167 


larger roundish subhexagonal open space occupying the place 
of the suture between the abdominal plates. 

Perhaps a somewhat similar structure exists in the young 
Hydromedusa flavilabris (P1.VI. fig. 3) ; but I have only been 
able to examine and figure the outside of this specimen, and 
have not described the separate bones of which it is composed. 
But this form does not seem to be universal in the Hydraspide, 
as in the young Chelymys Victorie in the British Museum 
(about five inches long), examined from the outside, there is a 
narrow rhombic unossified space in the suture between the pair 
of abdominal plates, and a narrower lanceolate space between 
the hinder part of the preanal plates, somewhat like what we 
find in the young Bataguride. 

Thus it will appear that the tortoises that have a solid con- 
tinuous sternum in their adult state have the bones of which 
it is composed of a very different form in their young state, 
though they are all developed into a solid mass composed of 
nine bones in the adult state, as, for example, Malaclemmys 
(Pl. V. fig. 1) of Malaclemmydee, Pelomedusa (fig. 2) of Pelo- 
meduside, Chelydra and Stauremys of Chelydrade, Kachuga 
(Pl. VI. figs. 1 & 2), Morenita, and Pangshura of Bataguride, 
Lhinoclemmys (Pl. V. fig. 4) of Emydide. 

Thus, among the Box Tortoises, the sternum of the young 
Cyclemys dhor (P1.V. fig. 3) is very like that of Rhinoclemmys, 
and the young of Notochelys platynota is like that of Batagur. 
We have not had the opportunity of examining the young 
state of the other genera of Box Tortoises. 

I labour under the same disadvantage with regard to the 
young state of the two-flapped Trap Tortoises. I have only 
seen the young stuffed specimen of Kinosternon pennsylvanicum 
(PI. V. fig. 6), which I can only examine from the outside. That 
has an oblong slender unossified space occupying more than 
half the length of the central suture of the sternum, somewhat 
like, but narrower than, the unossified space of Cyclemys and 
Lthinoclemmys. 


Mud- Tortoises (‘Trionyx). 


The bones of the sternum of the young and adult Mud- 
Tortoises undergo little alteration of shape; only the adult 
animals have on the outer surface of each an expanded bony 
callosity, which, like those on the outer surface of the ribs, 
is pitted externally and covered with a soft skin, so that the 
expansions of the ribs and sternal bones are only seen in the 
animal when it is dry. They are peculiar for having the first 
pair of sternal bones elongate and bent like an L, one branch 
of each being directed straight forward, and the elongate 


168 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Development and Cohesion 


odd bone, on the inner margin of the other branch, slightly 
arched. 

In some genera there is only in the adult state a callosity 
on the sides next the suture between the two middle pairs of 
bones, as Aspilus; in others these callosities are expanded, as 
in Rafetus; but generally the anal pair of bones are also 
covered with expanded callosities, asin Trionyx. In some, as 
Emyda, the front pair and the odd front bone are provided with 
callosities. The Mud-Tortoises are generally without any 
bones on the margin ; but some few bones are developed in the 
margin of the adult animal in Hmyda. 

The development of the genus Hmyda has been imperfectly 
observed. In LE. punctata the margin of the disk of the young 
is flexible, without any marginal bones. At length an oblong 
marginal bone is developed on the front part of the hinder side 
over the hind legs ; and afterwards a series of smaller marginal 
bones are developed on the margin behind it. When very 
young the expanded bony dorsal disk is very narrow, only 
occupying the centre of the back, the expanded part being 
shorter than the ribs. 

The odd front bone is rather broader than long, and separated 
from the front pair of bones by the prominent square first ver- 
tebral callosity ; but as the animal grows the odd first callosity 
becomes much broader and closely united to the first pair of 
callosities, which become wider so as quite to enclose the first 
vertebral callosity. It is not until after this change has taken 
place that the single anterior nuchal callosity and the two 
hinder lateral eallosities before referred to, over the hind feet, 
are developed. At length the anterior transverse callosity is 
united to the front of those of the first pair of ribs to form 
the dorsal shield, and the single anterior marginal callosity fits 
into a central notch in its front margin. 

In the young specimen the odd anterior marginal callosity 
is not developed. When the three marginal bones before 
mentioned are developed, then it is oblong, transverse, and 
very small; but it enlarges as the animal increases in size. 

In the very young specimen the front pair of sternal callosities 
are small, roundish, and very far apart. They gradually increase 
in size, being at first rounded quadrangular, rather longer 
than broad; but they at length spread out on the sides, and 
are much broader than long, being broader in front than on the 
outer side. The hinder pair of sternal callosities are always 
separate behind. In the very young specimens the pair are 
far apart, much longer than broad, arched on the inner and 
straight on the outer side. As they increase in size they 
become broader compared with their length, and closer together, 


of the Bones of the Sternum of Chelonians. 169 


and at length irregularly semicircular, rather longer than broad, 
nearly close together, and oblique to each other. 

The other species (7. ceylonensis), when adult, has the hinder 
pair of callosities subquadrangular, parallel, and nearly united 
by a straight inner edge and a large rounded anterior callosity. 


Sea- Turtles. 


The number of the sternal bones of Turtles is the same, and 
the first pair and the odd bone on the inside of them are of the 
same form, as in the Terrapins ; but they always remain more 
or less,separate from one another, and do not enlarge, solidify, 
and consolidate into a continuous bony disk. 

As in the Terrapins, the bones of the sternum in the young 
Turtles are found in two forms. Inthe true Turtles ( Chelonia) 
(Pl. VI. fig. 4) the three hinder pairs of lateral bones are 
always expanded and furnished with radiating lobes on the 
inner and outer edges. These lobes are very uniform in 
their direction and generally in their form, and afford very good 
characters for the distinction of the species and their division 
into groups. In the Luth (Sphargis) (Pl. VI. fig. 5) the 
sternal bones in the young state are very narrow, cylindrical 
and weak, merely forming a slight framework to the circum- 
ference of the sternum, and the two front pairs form a group 
which is separated by a considerable space on the side of the 
sternum from the part of the rmg formed of the two hinder 
ateral pairs, being in this respect somewhat like the sternum 
of the young Land-Tortoises, but consisting of slight cylin- 
drical rudimentary bones instead of the broad expanded ones 
of that group. 

The study of the development of the sternum of the tor- 
toises has brought out affinities between groups that have not 
hitherto been observed ; and no doubt, as the state of the bones 
in more young specimens is known, it will greatly add to our 
knowledge of the relations which the genera bear to each other. 
This may be exhibited by the following table, which will lead 
the zoologist and comparative anatomist to consider this sub- 
ject, and see many affinities between groups that have hitherto 
been considered very different, and divergences in groups that 
have hitherto been regarded as allied. 


Chelonians may be divided thus :— 


I. The bones of the sternum, and also of the dorsal disk and 
margin, of the adult animal all united together and con- 
solidated as if they were a single bone. 

a. The bones of the sternum in the young animal expanded, 


170 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Development and Cohesion 


and forming a more or less bony disk protecting the 
greater part of the sternum. : 

* The sternal bones in the very young expanded and forming 
two groups :—the front, of the two anterior pairs of bones 

- and the odd bone; the hinder, of the two hinder pairs of 

bones, leaving a space in the middle of the sides. T'ylo- 
poda or Land-Tortoises: Testudo &c. 

** The sternal bones of the very young united into a disk or 
marginal ring. Steganopoda or Terrapins, as Mala- 
clemmys, Pelomedusa, Chelydra, and Staurotypus. 

It is to be observed that it is among the latter genera of the 
family Chelydrade that the sternum of these animals is smaller 
and less developed compared with the size of the animal than 
in any other Chelonians. 


6. The bones of the sternum in the young animal slender, and 
merely forming a ring round the circumference of the 
sternum, leaving the centre part vacant, to be filled up 
by the development of the bones. 


In the most developed form of this group the bones form a 
simple external ring, leaving the centre of the disk vacant, as 
in the genus Rhinoclemmys among the Terrapins with a con- 
tinuous sternum, and Cyclemys among the Box Tortoises (which 
have the sternum divided into two parts by a central suture) ; 
and the structure seems to be similar in the genus Ainosternon 
(Pl. V. fig. 6), which have the sternum divided into three 
parts by two cross sutures, and have been called Flap-Tortoises. 

Some of the tortoises that have the sternum in the very 
young state supported by aring of bones send forth bony lobes 
from the inner side of the three pairs of lateral bones, which 
divide the vacant central space into four parts ; this has only 
been observed in the genus Kachuga among the Asiatic 
Batagurs. ‘This group is intermediate between the two sections 
aandb; and the sternum of the young has considerable affinity 
to the sternum of the adult turtles. 


II. The bones of the sternum in the adult animal remaining 
separate, and only forming a ring of bones round the 
centre part of the disk. 


In the marine Turtles the marginal bones are only slightly 
developed ; and in the freshwater Mud-Tortoises the marginal 
bones are not developed at all, or only deposited on part of the 
margin when the animal arrives at the adult age. ‘These may 
be divided into :— 

The Mud-Tortoises (Trionychide). The front pair of ster- 
nal bones separate, slender, bent at a right angle in the middle, 


of the Bones of the Sternum of Chelonians. 171 


the front part produced forwards, the hinder to the side, and 
attached on the*inner side to the elongate arched odd bone. 

The Turtles (Chelonia) have the front and hinder pairs of 
bones narrow, and the front pair furnished with an elongate, 
more or less lanceolate, odd bone at the posterior end of the 
suture between the front pair. 


* The two lateral pairs of sternal bones being expanded and 
more or less united in the Turtles. 

*® The two lateral pairs of sternal bones linear and far apart 
in the Luth. 


The Mud-Tortoises and the Luth are peculiar among tor- 
toises for being covered with a soft leathery skin instead of the 
horny plates peculiar to this group of animals: but the Mud- 
Tortoises have beneath their skin more or less dilated callosities, 
forming their ribs and sternum into a solid mass ; while in the 
Luth the ribs and sternal bones are very slightly developed, 
separate from each other, being chiefly supported by the hard 
callosities enclosed in the skin, so that it may be regarded as 
a reptile on the border of the vertebrate kingdom. 


On the Osteology of Sphargis &e. 


In the adult Sphargis the bones are not more developed, 
considering the size of the animal, than they are in the very 
young (previously described), and very unlike the skeleton of 
other Chelonians. ‘There is no regular dorsal or sternal shield, 
nor marginal bones. ‘The vertebra are compressed ; the seven 
ribs on each side are depressed, weak, of nearly the same width 
the whole length, and quite separate from each other, and 
without any bony expansion between them to form a dorsal 
disk as in other Chelonians. In all the other very young tor- 
toises I have seen, the ribs are lanceolate, more or less dilated 
near the vertebral column ; and it is from the upper surface of 
this dilatation that the callosities of the outer surface by which 
the ribs are united commence and gradually proceed down the 
ribs to the marginal bones. 

The sternum of the adult specimen (5 feet long) examined 
was more rudimentary and less apparent than in the very 
young specimen about 4 inches long, which is figured in 
PE Vishe. 5. 

The animal, unlike the generality of Chelonians, appears to 
be chiefly supported by its hard, longitudinally costate skin. 
The skin is very thick, and the whole outer surface is studded 
with very close hard hexangular disks, more like the surface 
of a trunkfish (Ostracion) than any thing that I can compare 
it with. These disks are larger and more oblong on the 


172 ~— ‘Dr. J. E. Gray on the Osteoloqgy of Sphargis. 


longitudinal ridges of the back, the sides of the sternum, and 
on the sides of the tail, and are produced above into hard 
conical elevations or tubercles, which are largest on the ridges 
of the tail. These tubercles are somewhat like those to be 
observed on some species of Ostracion and on Lophius and 
other fishes. 

The form of the two hinder central bones of the dorsal disk 
(placed beyond the one that bears the pelvis, and forming the 
central line of the hinder part of the shell that covers the tail 
of the animal) is very different in the young and halfgrown 
specimens of the different kinds of turtles, and affords a very 
good character to determine the species ; but these bones expand 
in the more adult state when the dorsal shell becomes solidified 
by the dilatation and coherence of the ribs, when they lose the 
distinctness of their form, or at least they become coalesced 
with the other bones and are not to be observed. 

Thus in the young Caouana the hinder bone is narrow and 
compressed, with a prominence on its outer side; in the other 
turtles this bone is flat and expanded. In the Green Turtle 
(Mydas) the last bone is lanceolate, ovate, and broad at the 
base, and slightly contracted at the front edge, and the hinder 
part is gradually contracted into a point. The last bone of the 
Hawk’s-beak (Caretta) is similar, but broader and more rapidly 
attenuated behind, and not contracted in front next to the 
pelvis. 


EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES, 
Puate IV. 


Fig. 1. Testudo tabulata. 

Fig. 2. Testudo elephantopus. 

Fig. 3. Testudo platynota. 

Fig. 4. Testudo stellata. 

Fig. 5. Notochelys platynota. 
PLATE V. 

Fig. 1. Malaclemmys concentrica. 

Fug. 2. Pelomedusa subrufa. 

Fig. 3. Cyclemys dhor. 

Fig. 4.. Rhinoclemmys scabra. 

Fig. 5, Elseya dentata. 

Fig. 6. Kinosternon pennsylvanicum. 


Puate VI. 


1. Kachuga major. 

2. Kachuga dentata (outside). 

Fig. 3. Hydromedusa flavilabris (outside). 
4. Chelonia mydas. 

Fig. 5, Sphargis mercurialis. 


On the Homologies of the Shoulder-girdle of Fishes. 173 


XX.— On the Homologies of the Shoulder-girdle of the Dipnoans 
and other Fishes. By 'THroporE GiLx, M.D., Ph.D., &c.* 


Frw problems involving the homologies of bones in the ver- 
tebrate branch have been in so unsatisfactory a condition as 
that respecting the shoulder-girdle and its constituents in fishes. 
But the recent observations of Bruhl, Gegenbaur, and Parker 
have thrown a flood of light upon the subject. Some minor 
questions, however, appear still to be unsettled ; the writer, at 
least, has not been able to convince himself of the correctness 
of all the identifications, and of the names conferred as ex- 
pressions thereof. Recent study has increased such doubts 
respecting the applicability of former nomenclatures, and has 
led to conclusions different from those announced by previous 
investigators. 

The following are assumed as premises that will be granted 
by all zootomists :— 

1. Homologies of parts are best determinable, ceteris pari- 
bust, in the most nearly related forms. 

2. Identifications should proceed from a central or determi- 
nate point outwards. 

The applications of these principles are embodied in the 
following conclusions :— 

1. The forms that are best comparable and that are most 
nearly related to each other are the Dipnoi, an order of fishes 
at present represented by Lepidosiren, Protopterus, and Cera- 
todus, and the Batrachians as represented by the Ganocephala, 
Salamanders, and Salamander-like animals. 

2. The articulation of the anterior member with the shoulder- 
girdle forms the most obvious and determinable point for com- 
parison in the representatives of the respective classes. 


The Girdle in Dipnoans. 


I. The proximal element of the anterior limb in the Dipnoi 
has, almost by common consent, been regarded as homologous 
with the humerus of the higher vertebrates. 

II. The humerus in the Urodele Batrachians, as well as the 
extinct Ganocephala and Labyrinthodontia, is articulated 
chiefly with the coracoid. 

Therefore the element of the shoulder-girdle with which 
the humerus of the Dipnoi is articulated must also be regarded 


* Abstract, communicated by the Author, from a forthcoming work 
(‘ Arrangement of the Families of Fishes’) now being printed for the 
Smithsonian Institution. 

+ Parts affected by teleological modifications may be excepted. 


174 Dr. T. Gill on the Homologies 


as the coracoid (subject to the proviso hereinafter stated), 
unless some specific evidence can be shown to the contrary. 
No such evidence has been produced. 

III. The scapula in the Urodele and other Batrachians is 
entirely or almost wholly excluded from the glenoid foramen, 
and above the coracoid. 

Therefore the corresponding element in Dipnoi must be the 
scapula. 

IV. The other elements must be determined by their relation 
to the preceding, or to those parts from or in connexion with 
which they originate. 

All those elements in ¢mmediate connexion* with the pectoral 
fin and the scapula must be homologous as a whole with the 
coraco-scapular plate of the Batrachians ; that is, it is infinitely 
more probable that they represent as a whole or as dismember- 
ments therefrom the coraco-scapular element than that they 
have independently originated. 

But the homogeneity of that coraco-scapular element forbids 
the identification of the several elements of the fish’s shoulder- 
girdle with regions of the Batrachian’s coraco-scapular plate. 

And it is equally impossible to identify the fish’s elements 
with those of the higher reptiles or other vertebrates which 
have developed from the Batrachians. ‘The elements in the 
shoulder-girdles of the distantly separated classes may be (to 
use the terms introduced by Mr. Lankester) homoplastic; but 
they are not homogenetic. 

Therefore they must be named accordingly. 

The element of the Dipnoan’s shoulder-girdle continuous 
downwards from the scapula, and to which the coracoid is 
closely applied, may be named ectocoracoid. 

V. Neither the scapula in Batrachians nor the cartilaginous 
extension thereof, designated suprascapula, is dissevered from 
the coracoid. 

Therefore there is an & priort improbability against the 
homology with the scapula of any part having a distant or 
merely ligamentous connexion with the humerus-bearing ele- 
ment. 

Consequently, as an element better representing the scapula 
exists, the element named scapula (by Owen, Giinther, &c.) 
cannot be the homologue of the scapula of Batrachians. 

On the other hand, its more intimate relations with the skull 
and the mode of development indicate that it is rather an 
element originating and developed in more intimate connexion 
with the skull. 


* The so-called scapula and suprascapula of most authors are excluded 
from this connexion. 


of the Shoulder-girdle, of Fishes. 175 


We may therefore regard it, with Parker, as a post- 
temporal. 

Vi ihe shoulder-girdle in the Dipnoi is connected by an 
azygous differentiated cartilage, swollen backwards. 

It is more probable that this is the homologue of the sternum 
of Batrachians, and that in the latter, that element has been 
still more differentiated and specialized, than that it should have 
originated de novo from an independently developed nucleus. 

The homologies of the elements of the shoulder-girdle of the 
Dipnoi appear then to be as follows :— 


Nomenclature adopted. Owen. Parker. Giinther. 
HuMeERvs. Humerus. |Humerus. Forearm. 
‘Coracor ) 

(or PARAGLENAL)*. Scapula. Humeral cartilage. 
SCAPULA. Coracoid, /SuPraclavicle. 


Ecrocoracorp Clavicle. Coracoid§. 
(or Coracorp)f. 


STERNUMt. Epicoracoid. | Median cartilage. 


PosTTEMPORAL. Scapula. |Posttemporal.| Suprascapula. 


The Girdle in other Fishes. 


Proceeding from the basis now obtained, a comparative 
examination of other types of fishes successively removed by 
their affinities from the Lepidosirenids may be instituted. 

I. With the humerus of the Dipnoans the element in the 
Polypterids (single at the base but immediately divaricating, 
and with its imbs bordering an intervening cartilage) which 
supports the pectoral and its basilar ossicles must be homolo- 

ous. 
But it is evident that the external elements of the so-called 
carpus of teleosteoid Ganoids are homologous with that element 
in Polypterids. 
. * Gelenkstelle der Brustflosse am primiiren Schulterknorpel (Gegen- 
aur ). 
7. Stavienla (Gegenbaur). 

{ Verbindungsstelle des beiderseitigen Schulterknorpels (Gegenbaur). 

Prof. Gegenbaur regards the median cartilage as a dismemberment of a 
common cartilage, the upper division of which receives the pectoral limb, 
while the lower unites with the corresponding dismemberment of the 
opposite side and forms the median cartilage. 

§ The suture separating the “coracoid” into two portions has been 


observed by Dr. Gunther, but he could “not attach much importance to 
this division.” 


176 Dr. T. Gill on the Homologies 


Therefore those elements cannot be carpal, but must repre- 
sent the humerus. 

II. The element with which the homologue of the humerus, 
in Polypterids, is articulated must be homologous with the 
analogous element in Dipnoans, and therefore with the 
coracotd. f 

The coracoid of Polypterids is also evidently homologous 
with the corresponding element in the other Ganoids; and 
consequently the latter must be also coracoid. 

It is equally evident, after a detailed comparison, that the 
single coracoid element of the Ganoids represents the three 
elements developed in the generalized Teleosts (Cyprinids &c.) 
in connexion with the basis of the pectoral fin; and such 
being the case, the nomenclature should correspond. There- 
fore the upper element may be named hypercoracoid, the 
lower hypocoracoid, and the transverse or meulan mesoco- 
racovd. 

ILL., IV. (Proscapula, or united scapula and ectocoracoid.) 
The two elements of the arch named by Parker, in Lepido- 
siren, “‘ supraclavicle”’ (= scapula) and “ clavicle” (= ecto- 
coracoid) seem to be comparable together and as a whole with 
the single element carrying the humerus and pectoral fin in 
the Crossopterygians (Polypterus and Calamoichthys) and 
other fishes*, and therefore not identical respectively with 
the “ supraclavicle” and “ clavicle” (except in part) recognized 
by him in other fishes. 

As this compound bone, composed of the scapula and ecto- 
coracoid fused together, has received no name which is not 
ambiguous or deceptive in its homological allusions, it may be 
designated the proscapula. 

V. The posttemporal of the Dipnoans is evidently repre- 
sented by the analogous element in the Ganoids generally, as 
well as in the typical fishes. 

The succeeding elements (outside those already alluded to) 
appear from their relations to be developed from or in connexion 
with the posttemporal, and not from the true scapular appa- 
ratus ; they may therefore be named posttemporal, posterotem- 

oral, and teleotemporals. 

The homologies of the elements of the girdle of Dipnoans 
with those of other fishes, and the added elements in the latter, 
will be as follows :— 


* Dr,Giinther (Phil. Trans. vol. clxi. p. 531) has observed, respecting the 
division in question in Lepidosiren and Ceratodus :—“T cannot attach much 
value to this division; the upper piece is certainly not homologous with 
the scapula of Teleostean fishes, which is far removed from the region of 
the pectoral condyle.” 


of the Shoulder-girdle of Fishes. 177 


uyier, wen. egenbauer. arker. 
c O Gegenb Park 
ACTINOSTs. Os du carpe. | Carpal. | Basalstiicke dt Brachial. 
Brustflosse. | 
A D ? . . : . ° . 
OCR ae Simple in Dipnoi and Ganoidei. 
b a . | 
YPERCORACOID.| Radial. na. eres Stuck | Scapula. 
H c Radial Ul Ob Stiick | Scapul 
(Scapulare), | 
| Mersocoracorp. | Troisitme os) Humerus. | Spangenstiick. | Precoracoid. | 
de lavant- | | 
| bras = qui | 
porte la na- | 
geoire pec- 
| torale, | | 
| Hypocoracorp. | Cubital. Radius. Vorderes Stiick Coracoid. 
(Procoracoid). 
~~ 
PROSCAPULA*. Tumeral. Coracoid. | Clavicula. Clavicle. 
| | 
| ScapuLa. ] : ; ee 
§ different 2 
| Ecrocoracor. |f Differentiated only in Dipnoi 
| . . . . . 
STERNUM. . Differentiated in Dipnoi. 
PosttEMPORAL ELEMENTS. 
PoSTTEMPORAL. Suprascapu- | Suprasca- | Supraclavicu- | Posttem- 
laire. pula. lave (a). | poral. 
PosTEROTEMPORAL,| Scapulaire. | Scapula. Supraclavicu- | Supracla- 
lare (6). | vicle. 
TELEOTEMPORALS. | Os coracoi- | Clavicle. | Accessorisches , Postclayicles. 
dien, Stiick. 


| 


It will thus be seen that the determinations here adopted 
depend mainly (1) on the interpretation of the homologies of 
the elements with which the pectoral limbs are articulated, and 
(2) on the application of the term “‘coracoid.”” The name 

“coracoid,” originally applied to the process so called in the 
human scapula, and subsequently extended to the independent 
element homologous with it in birds and other vertebrates, has 
been more especially retained (e.g. by Parker in mammals 
&c.) for the region including the glenoid cavity. On the 
assumption that “this may be preferred by most zootomists, the 
preceding terms have been applied. But if the name should 
be restricted to the proximal element nearest the glenoid 


* The name scapula might have been retained for this element, as it is 
(if the views here maintained are correct) homologous with the entire sca- 
pula of man, less the coracoid and glenoid elements ; but the restricted 
meaning has been so universally adopted, that it would be inexpedient 
now to extend the word. 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol. xi. 12 


178 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to 


cavity in which ossification commences, the name paraglenal 
(given by Dugés to the cartilaginous glenoid region) can be 
adopted; and the coracoid would then be represented (in 
part) rather by the element so named by Owen. ‘That eminent 
anatomist, however, reached his conclusion (only in part the 
same as that here adopted) by an entirely different course of 
reasoning, and by a process, as it may be called, of elimina- 
tion; that is, recognizing first the so-called “ radius” and 
“ulna,” the “ humerus,” the ‘ scapula,” and the “ coracoid ”’ 
were successively identified from their relations to the elements 
thus determined, and because they were numerically similar to 
the homonymous parts in higher vertebrates. 

The detailed arguments for these conclusions, and references 
to the views of other authors, will be given in a future memot. 
[ will only add here that these homologies seem to be fully 
sustained by the relations of the parts in the generalized 
Ganocephalous Batrachians (Apateon or Archegosaurus, &c.). 


XXI.—Additions to the Australian Curculionide. Part IV. 
By Francis P. Pasco, F.L.S. &c. 


BRACHYDERIN#E. Enide, n. g. 
Evas lineatus. —— porphyrea. 
—— estuans. 
MouytTiw%. saniosa. 
Psaldus ammodytes. Hedyopis, 1. g. 
selligera. 
Hyprrin2. Gerynassa, n. g. 
oe , nodulosa. 
SAS alee ager basalis. 
Propheesia confusa. Dicomada, n. ¢. 
—— litigiosa. 
HyLosnna. a: 
Orthorhinus tenellus. tornen, 
infidus. Paryzeta, n. g. 
—— carinatus. — musiva. 
Xeda, n. g. 
ERIRHININ&. amplipennis. 
Agestra, n. g. bilineata. 
suturalis, Olanzea, n. g. 
Eniopea, n. g. nigricollis. 
amoena. Antyllis, n. g. 
Diethusa, n. g. setosa. 
fervida. —— griseola. 
Emplesis filirostris. aurulenta. 
storeoides. Cyttalia, n. g. 
Lybeba, n. g. eriseipila. 
subfasciata. Phrenozemia lunata. 


repanda. 


Meriphus coronatus. 


the Australian Curculionide. 179 


AMALACTIN. Poropterus inominatus. 
Brexius lineatus. varicosus. 
oniscus. 
CrYPTORHYNCHIN ®. tumulosus. 


Psepholax Mastevrsii. 
egerius. CEUTORHYNCHINE. 
latirostris. 

Poropterus satyrus. 


Rhinoncus nigriventris. 


Evas lineatus. 

E. nigro-piceus, omnino dense squamosus, supra lineis cervinis ar- 
genteisque alternatis, infra pedibusque totis argenteis; rostro 
crasso, capite haud angustiore, incisura triangulari apice angusta, 
bene determinata; prothorace latitudine longitudini equali, cer- 
vino-trivatto, vitta intermedia latiore; elytris sulcato- punctatis, 
interstitiis primo secundoque, quarto et sexto cervinis, totis squamis 
erectis argenteis uniseriatim instructis, apicibus parum divaricatis. 


Long. 31-4 lin. 
Hab. Queensland (Gayndah). 


The male is considerably narrower than the female, and is 
perhaps more definitely marked. In proposing the generic 
name (Trans. Ent. Soc. 1870, p. 182) I overlooked the fact 


that Hvas is masculine. 


Psaldus ammodytes. 


P. ovatus, brunneo-testaceus, vage setulosus ; oculis nigris ; capite 
rostroque punctis sparsis leviter impressis ; prothorace latitudine 
vix longiore (haud confertim) rugoso-punctato; elytris fortiter 
sulcato-punctatis, interstitiis convexis ; abdomine sparse punctato. 
Long. 1} lin. 


Hab. Champion Bay. 


Besides colour, this species differs from P. Miosomoides in its 
difterently punctured rostrum. From a renewed examination 
of Aphela and Emphyastes I am inclined to think that these 
two genera and Psa/dus should form a subfamily near Moly- 
tine. Emphyastes, placed by Mannerheim by the side of 
Trachodes and Styphlus, is referred by Lacordaire to Amalac- 
tine, notwithstanding its very short metasternum ; at the same 
time he says that it is one of the most aberrant genera of the 
Curculionidee, and that if put anywhere else it would be still 
more out of place. In the three genera the scrobe runs to the 
eye, widening more or less distinctly, so that its wpper boun- 
dary, if continued, would pass above the eye; the scape either 
lies in front, when of normal length, or passes over or above 
the eye when the scape impinges on it, as it does in Psaldus. 
They are all found on the sea-shore under seaweed or burrowing 
in the sand, some below high-water mark. 

is 


180 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to 


Hypera acacie. 

H., lata, fusca, squamis umbrinis griseisque confuse vestita ; rostro 
prothorace manifeste breviore, sat tenuatc, basi angustiore ; oculis 
ellipticis, antice paulo approximatis ; antennis ferrugineis, funi- 
euli articulo primo duobus sequentibus longitudine equali ; pro- 
thorace sat confertim punctato, vitta laterali indistincte notato ; 
elytris prothorace multo latioribus, paulo depressis, striato- 
punctatis, interstitiis latis, uniseriatim setosis, subplagiatim griseo- 
variis ; corpore infra castaneo, squamis subargenteis, rotundatis. 
elongatisque mtermixtis, vestito; pedibus breviusculis. Long. 
22 lin. 


Hab. Queensland (Gayndah). 


A true Hypera, but with broader elytra than usual. Mr. 
Masters tells me it is found on wattles (Acacia, sp.). 


Prophesia confusa. 


P. pallide ferruginea, supra squamis oblongis, infra magis elongatis 
vel piliformibus, albis vestita ; rostro apicem versus gradatim paulo 
latiore; prothorace sat confertim punctato, punctis singulis squama, 
plerumque piliformi gerentibus ; elytris striato-punctatis, inter- 
stitiis haud convexis, leviter punctulatis ; sutura prima abdominis 
fortiter arcuata. Long. 23 lin. 


Hab. Tasmania. 


The scales vary in size and form, as they do in the other 
two species ; but in this one they are not close together so as 
almost to hide the sculpture, but irregularly scattered, although 
approximating in parts so as to form indefinite patches, which 
are more or lessconnected according, apparently, to the freshness 
of the specimen. 


Orthorhinus tenellus. 


. eylindricus, fuscus, squamis albidis ochraceisque dense vestitus ; 
rostro breyi, basi squamoso; antennis subferrugineis ; funiculo 
brevi; clava breviter ovata; prothorace latitudine longitudini 
zequali, tertia parte anteriore paulo constricta, in medio valde con- 
vexo, ad latera vage granulato, apice fasciculis duabus parvis 
ochraceis munito; scutello conspicuo; elytris sulcato-punctatis, 
interstitiis alternis remote granulatis, singulis tuberculis quatuor, 
una basali, una mediana, duabus prope apicem ochraceo-fascicu- 
latis, instructis; corpore infra pedibusque dense albo-squamosis ; 
femoribus anticis majusculis, sed tibiis brevibus, compressis. 
Long. 22 lin. 


Hab. Champion Bay. 


Like a small starved specimen of O. simulans, Boh., but 
proportionally longer and more slender ; in my solitary example 
the upper surface has a somewhat silvery hue. 


the Australian Curcthonide. 181 


Orthorhinus infidus. 


7, anguste ovatus, piceus, squamis silaceis elongatis vel setiformibus 
sat vage vestitus ; rostro modice elongato, crebre punctato ; oculis 
subgrosse granulatis; antennis subferrugineis ; funiculo longius- 
culo, articulo primo elongato ; prothorace subtransverso, lateribus 
pone apicem fortiter rotundato, confertim granulato-punctato, 
squamis setiformibus vestito, in medio, apice excepto, carinato ; 
elytris modice convexis, sulcato-punctatis, punctis leviter impressis, 
interstitiis convexis, granulis transversis conceloribus rude in- 
structis, squamis elongatis, postice magis condensatis, conspersis ; 
tibiis posticis prope apicem fortiter compressis. Long. 6 lin. 
Hab.. Richmond River. 


A dull-coloured species, which im the smaller facets of the 
eyes resembles O. hilipoides, a species which in momentary 
aberration | described as an Alcides; in the sculpture of the 
elytra it is unlike any, of its congeners. This and the fol- 
lowing species have no fascicult. 


Orthorhinus carinatus. 

O. oblongo-ovatus, fuscus, sordide griseo-squamosus; rostro brevi- 
usculo, rude punctato, parce elongato-squamoso ; antennis sub- 
testaceis, squamis piliformibus vestitis ; funiculo articulo primo 
elongato ; prothorace subtransverso, quarta parte anteriore mani- 
feste constricta ; elytris sat fortiter convexis, apicem versus parum 
latioribus, substriato-punctatis, interstitiis alternis tuberculato- 
carinatis, carina interlore ante apicem evanescente, secunda pos- 
tice paulo prominula, basi plaga umbrina, margine postico arcuata 
et bene limitata notatis, sed aliquando fere obsoleta; tibiis, pre- 
sertim anticis intermediisque, brevibus, illis valde’ compressis. 
Long. 3j-4 lin. 

Hab. Wide Bay. 


The outline and well-marked carine on the elytra are the 
principal diagnostic characters of this species. 


As I have to propose several new genera of Krirhinine, the 
following table will be useful in showing their more prominent 
diagnostic characters ; and it includes, I believe, all the Aus- 
tralian genera yet published. ‘There will still remain, however, 
several unnamed species in collections to be examined. The 
subfamily is apparently a very numerous one in Australia, and, 
from the exceeding variability of its characters, a very difficult 
one to classify. The two New-Zealanc genera (Foplocneme 
and Stephanorhynchus) are widely removed from all known 
Australian forms *, I think that in Mr. Wallace’s Malayan 

* A third genus, Hugnomus (Schonh, Mant. Sec. p. 45), is said to be from 
New Zealand ; but no species has been described. 


182 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to 


collection of more than a thousand species of Curculionids 
only five or six species belong to the Erirhinine. In the table 
I have followed Lacordaire’s non into five “groupes;” but 
it seems to me that two of these (“Cryptoplides ”’ and ‘ Sto- 
réides””) cannot be maintained satisfactorily, and should be 
united to “ Krirhinides vrais.” Some of the genera might be 
placed in either of them. 


‘HW RIRHINIDES VRAIS.” 
Pectus not canaliculate. 
Club of the antenne with closely united joints. 


RaitoWes MenmLy terminal ...05.020. SSS eee ee Destantha. 
Scrobes more or less distant from the mouth. 
(agar quedrangtlar.... 6.6. fae ee ok ne einem a Nemestra, 
Rostrum rounded or cylindrical. 
Antennee inserted near the base of the rostrum .. Ovichora. 


Antenne inserted near the middle. 
Femora not toothed. 
Scrobes connivent beneath ................ Aoploenemis, 
Scrobes not connivent. 
Anterior tibize spurred. 


Anterior tibiee slightly flexuous........ Erirhinus. 
Anterior tibis falcate . 2... Qnochroma, 
Anterior tibiz not spurred .............. Nedyleda. 
Kemor, toothed beneath |... 5045. -iabeaet as Agestra. 
Club of the antennz loosely jointed ...............%., Eniopea. 
I Neat TUNNEL LG vss Mae Gia ve NU cc V6 sp ok nag aan oh a Sse Mbghi Fok Diethusa. 


Bemriny Mannlicwlates a: Ss tk. eo eae Saw ie he Bagous *. 


Funicle 6-jointed. 


RTE NEEL ce hy pin sore eg ove hd 3 owe sep e b oe Siang Endalus. 

Pierre ee penenOtier ns CLS Vet SAY Ait AS Are Sees Rosie races Misophrice. 
Funicle 7-jointed. 

Llytra callous MSEAPEVORU M9 orc epotniil  evaicia gaan, sab ts sp ie ee Rhachiodes. 


Elytra without callosities. 
Tarsi 4-jointed. 
Claw-joint not passing beyond the lobes of the third Cryptoplus. 
Claw-joint passing beyond the lobes of the third .. Eymplesis, 
Meret ee MHEG 6 65 wen cin geile pamraueimmcen pales Thechiat. 


Funicle 7-jointed. 
Pectus canaliculate. 


PCOS MITICOL iv: « «nineties, ep wien polagmbeabeis ane Lybeba. 
Rostrum narrowing gradually to the apex :....+.... Enide. 


Second abdominal segment scarcely longer than the 
WAGES ees: bis pis ore cw WE ee eT tomes 
* [have three Australian species of this well- known northern genus. 
+ This genus will be published in my “Contributions towards “a 
Knowledge of the Curculionidie,” Part iv., in the Journal of the Linnean 
Society. “It is related to a new Malayan form. 


the Australian Cureulionide. 183 


Second abdominal segment as long as or longer than the 
next two together. 
Prothorax Pisinuate at the base. 
Anterior and intermdiate tibiae bicalcarate ...... Ledyopis. 
Anterior and intermediate tibize with a single spur Lrytenna. 
Prothorax rounded at the base. 
WVEH CORTSOLY: SHCGEOU ao. Vals sce oo > oe 5 aor a nthe Gerynassa, 
Kyes finely faceted. 
Intermediate coxse remote. 
Rostrum cylindrical throughout .......... Cydmea. 
Rostrum broader at the @PeX .-- see eee eee Dicomada. 
Intermediate coxze approximate. 
Scrobes running to the eye. 


Rostrum slender, broader at the apex .... Paryzeta. 
Rostrum stouter, cylindrical throughout .. Xeda. 
Scrobes running bencath the vostrum ...... Olanea. 
Funicle 6-jointed ........... Saye te relocate ieiche Antyllis, 


“ EUGNOMIDES.” 
Rostrum abruptly connected with the head. 


CIDER NCO UMCTURLO. 6m a chr oe dus oct o erste © Bet ainrn mint we 3 Meriphus, 
Femora not pedunculate. 
ARDAAST CORES CONMEUOUS, (5) ssf ces. = Selverelel age es es Myosita. 
AnteriGr Coxe Hot contipUoUs...65 0). vd ees Co ea ee Orpha. 
Rostrum gradually continued to the head. 
Scape attaining BUC R ION HAs: Sesltnatinstt avai to» fea Phrenozemia, 
Scape passing ‘to the posterior border of the eye ........ Cyttalia. 
AGESTRA, 


Rostrum tenue, arcuatum; scrobes submediane, paulo oblique. 
Scapus oculum attingens ; fuaculus 7- -articulatus, articulo primo 
ampliato, ceteris brevioribus, obconicis ; clava distincta. Ocul 
ovati, fortiter granulati. Prothorax subtransversus, basi perparum 
bisinuatus, lobis ocularibus nullis. * Hlytra oblongo-corditormia, 
prothorace paulo latiora. Cowe intermedie haud approximate, 
Femora crassa, subtus emarginata, obsolete dentata ; tbe antice 
et intermedie fere rect, apice mucronate, postice subflexuose ; 
tarsi articulo tertio anguste bilebo, quarto elongato. Abdomen 
segmentis duobus basalibus brevibus, secundo tertio quartoque 
conjunctim manifeste breviore, sutura prima obsoleta. Corpus 
esquamosum. 


The insect forming the type of this genus is remarkable for 
the shortness of the two basal abdominal segments—the second, 
however, owing to its close union with the first, being very 
indistinctly limited. The genus seems to have more affinity 
with Dorytomus than with any other. The facets of the eyes 


are very minute ; but, as only about ten or so may be counted 


* I have omitted to mention the scutellum in this and some other 
genera, as in the Erirhinine (and oftentimes in other Curculionide ) it is 
very small, and, unless the scales are rubbed off, it is often difficult to 
ascertain its form. 


184 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to 


across the short diameter, the eye, in proportion to its size, 
must be characterized as coarsely granulate. 


Agestra suturalis. 


A, ovata, supra silacea, in prothorace saturata, subtus capiteque um- 
brina, setulis subaureis adspersa, rostro, antennis, pedibusque 
subferrugineis vel silaceis ; rostro prothorace yix longiore ; funiculi 
articulo primo secundo tertioque conjunctim manifeste longiore ; 
clava late ovata ; prothorace pone apicem fere parallelo, supra sat 
crebre punctato; elytris seriatim punctatis, punctis majusculis, 
approximatis, interstitio suturali nigro; femoribus posticis magis 
clavatis, dente minus obsoleto instructis. Long. 1 lin. 


Hab. Fremantle. 


ENIOPEA. 

Rostrum subcylindricum, arcuatum, apice parum latius ; scrobes pree- 
median, rectee. Scapus longiusculus, oculum attingens ; funi- 
culus 7-articulatus, articulo primo amplhiato, ceteris gradatim bre~ 
vioribus; clava magna, laxe articulata. Ocul subovati, fortiter 
granulati. Prothoraa oblongus, basi subrotundata, quam apice 
paulo latiore, lobis ocularibus nullis. Hlytra oblonga, prothorace 
manifeste latiora. Coww intermedi approximate. /emora crassa, 
mutica, basi subpedunculata ; thre antice et intermedie flexuosa, 
apice mucronate ; tarsi articulo tertio bilobo, quarto elongato. 
Abdomen segmentis duobus basalibus breviusculis, ultimo magno ; 
processus intercoxalis haud remotus. 


The diagnostic characters of this genus are found in the 
antennal club and in the abdominal segments ; the former, 
which is nearly as long as the six preceding joints of the funicle 
together, has its joints (except the last) narrowed at the base, 
as 10 many of the Anthribide. As to the last abdominal 
segment, in some of my specimens, probably females, it extends 
beyond the elytra, and is more or less s valy, a true pygidium 
in fact. Asin many other variegated species, little can be said 
in regard to the distribution of colours, as they vary in almost 
every individual ; but in most there is to the naked eye a well- 
marked spot at ‘the side of each elytron ; under the lens it 
isa large spot among a ‘confused mass of others. I have placed 
the genus provisionally neat Hrirhinus. 


Eniopea amena. 


E. oblonga, picea, squamis argenteis fuscisque variegata ; rostro ferru- 
gineo, “prothor ace manifeste longiore, basi capiteque parce griseo~ 
pilosis; funiculi articulo primo quam secundo duplo longiore ; 
prothorace latitudine paulo longiore, utrinque rotundato, supra 
plerumque vitta argeniea lateraliter ornato; elytris oblongo- 
cordiformibus, plagiatim vyariegatis ; corpore infra pedibusque 


the Australian Curculionide. 185 


ferrugineis, squamis argenteis adspersis; femoribus in medio 
nigrescentibus. »Long. 1} lin. 
Hab, Fremantle. 

DIrTHUSA. 

Rostrum breviusculum, versus apicem cito angustius ; scrobes submedi- 
ane, laterales, oblique. Scapus oculum attingens ; funiculus 7- 
articulatus, articulis duobus basalibus longiusculis, primo inerassato, 
reliquis obconicis, ultimis transversis ; c/ava distincta. Oculi ro- 
tundati, subtenuiter granulati, antice parum approximati. Pro- 
thorax subconicus, basi bisinuatus, lobis ocularibus nullis. Scutellum 
oblongum. A/ytra subcordiformia, prothorace multo latiora. 
Pectus, breve, canaliculatum. Cove antice basi fere contigua, 
intermediz distantes; femora crassa, dentata: tibie breves, 
flexuosee, apice bicalearatee (posticee fere obsolete excepte) ; tarsi 
articulo tertio bilobo, quarto minusculo; wngwieuli divaricati. 
Mesosternum depressum, antice arcuatum. Abdomen segmentis 
duobus basalibus ampliatis, suturis tribus intermediis rectis. 


The peculiar character of the rostrum, in conjunction with 
the normal character of abdominal segments and pectoral canal, 
is at once distinctive of this genus. The two spurs of the 
anterior and intermediate tibiw are, I consider, mucros, the 
outer and larger one being in the usual position, the inner one 
replacing the tuft of hairs often present when the tibia is a 
little dilated on the inner margin of the apex. 


Diethusa fervida. 

D. nigra, squamis lete rufo-ferrugineis, supra maculatim ochraceis, 
dense vestita ; rostro antennisque fulvo-ferrugineis, vel ferrugineis, 
illo prothorace manifeste breviore ; funiculi articulo primo modice 
elongato, secundo breviore ; prothorace utrinque rotundato ; elytris 
striato-punctatis, punctis clongatis, nitidis, interstitiis modice con- 
vexis; corpore infra pedibusque fulvo- ferrugineis, se]unctim griseo- 
squamosis ; femoribus posticis dente ampliato instructis. Long. 
2 lin. 


Hab. South Australia. 
Emplesis jitirostris. 


#. oblongo-elliptica, picea, squamis griseis sejunctim tecta; capite 
inter oculos squamis majoribus prominulis instructo ; rostro fili- 
formi, dduplo,  prothorace triplo longiore, castaneo, nudo, fere 
impunctato; antennis gracilibus, sparse setulosis ; prothorace 
transverso, antice constricto, lobis ocularibus nullis; elytris pro- 
thorace quadruplo longioribus, humeris rotundatis, striato-punctatis, 
punctis approximatis, interstitiis haud convexis; corpore infra 
squamis piliformibus adsperso; pedibus scjunctim squamosis. 
Long. 24 lin. 


Hab, Champion Bay. 


186 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to 


In this and the following species there is a decided curve at 
the sides of the three intermediate abdominal segments, a 
character which places them in the “ Storéides” of Lacor- 
daire ; however, they cannot, in my opinion, be separated from 
Eimplesis. 

Emplesis storeoides. 

&, sat late elliptica, nigra, supra sat dense umbrino-squamosa ; capite, 
antennis rostroque ferrugineis, hoc prothorace longiore, uudo, 
nitido, fere impunctato ; oculis majusculis ; funiculi articulo primo 
manifeste crassiore ; prothorace valde transverso, apice fortiter 
angustato, utrinque pone apicem modice rotundato ; scutello ovali ; 
elytris elongato-cordatis, striatis, in medio dimidii basalis nigro- 
squamosis, postice vage nigro-maculatis ; corpore infra pedibusque 
ferrugineis, sparse albido-squamosis. Long. 2 lin. 


Hab. Queensland (Gayndah). 


LYBZEBA. 


Rostrum tenuiter cylindricum, arcuatum, basi paulo compressum ; 
scrobes submedianee, rectee, fere in medio oculorum currentes. 
Scapus oculum vix attingens ; funiculus 7-articulatus, articulo 
primo elongato, ceteris gradatim brevioribus, obconicis; ¢lava 
distincta. Oculi subtenuiter granulati, vix approximati. Prothorax 
subconicus, basi bisinuatus, lobis ocularibus nullis. Seutellum 
oblongum. lytra subcordiformia, convexa. Pectus modice elon- 
gatum, canaliculatum. Cvwe@ antic basi contigue, intermedi 
distantes ; femora crassa, dentata; tibiew antice et intermedi 
recte, calcarate, apice (unco obliquo armatz) postice subflexuosie, 
versus apicem latiores; tarsi articulo tertio valde bilobo, quarto 
minusculo. Abdomen segmentis duobus basalibus ampliatis, tribus 
intermediis lateraliter arcuatis. 


Except in the second abdominal segment, the curve at the 
sides is very slightly marked ; still the sutures are not so straight 
as in Diethusa. ‘The genus is closely allied to Hnide ; L. sub- 
fasciata, indeed, might be taken at first sight for the small 
variety of EH. estuans; but the character of the rostrum is 
essentially different. 


Lybeba subfasciata. 

L. ferruginea,squamis lete ferrugineis, nigro-variis, sat dense yestita ; 
rostro nudo, subtestaceo, prothorace paulo longiore ; funiculi ar- 
ticulo primo duobus sequentibus conjunctim sequali ; prothorace 
apice paulo constricto, utrinque rotundato ; elytris striatis, fasciis 
nigris indeterminatis tribus, ad suturam interruptis, notatis ; 
corpore infra pedibusque sejunctim griseo-squamosis. Long. 13 lin. 


Hab. Swan River (Albany). 
This species has a longer prothorax than the following, 


the Australian Cureulionide. 187 


narrower proportionally at the base and strongly constricted 
towards the apex ; the scales also are more closely set. 


Lybeba repanda. 

L. castanea, squamis subfulvis castaneisque vestita ; rostro prothorace 
longiore, ferrugineo, nudo, punctis linearibus sat confertim im- 
presso ; funiculo articulis duobus basalibus longitudine sequalibus ; 
oculis minus tenuiter granulatis; prothorace magis transverso, 
apice vix constricto utrinque subfulvo, disco, macula triangulari 
basali excepta, castaneo-squamoso ; elytris striatis, fasciis duabus 
latis indeterminatis castaneis, una ante, altera pone medium, ad 
suturam interruptis, ornatis ; corpore infra pedibusque sat vage 
2riseo-squamosis ; coxis intermediis valde remotis ; abdominis seg- 
mento secundo breviore. Long. 1 lin. 


Hab. Swan River (Albany). 


. ENIDE. 

Rostrum paulo arcuatum, apicem versus tenuius ; scrobes premediane, 
laterales, oblique. Scapeus longiusculus, oculum attingens ; funt- 
culus 7-articulatus, articulis duobus basalibus longiusculis, reliquis 
obconicis, gradatim brevioribus ; clava distineta. Oculi rotundati, 
tenuiter granulati, modice approximati. —Prothorawv subconicus, 
basi bisinuatus, lobis ocularibus nullis.  Scewtellum angustum. 
Elytra subcordiformia, singula basi emarginata. Pectus breve, 
canaliculatum. Cove antice basi contigue, intermedie distantes ; 
jemora crassa, dentata ; tibive apice mucrone caleariformi munite, 
antice et intermedie arcuate vel subflexuosze, posticee fere recta, 
apicem versus crassiores ; tarsi articulo tertio late bilobo, quarto 
longiusculo; wnguiculi divaricati. Abdomen segmentis duobus 
basalibus ampliatis, intermediis lateraliter arcuatis. 


The rostrum is bent and narrowed towards the apex; this 
will at once differentiate the genus from Lybaba, which has 
also a short pectoral canal. The three intermediate segments 
of the abdomen in L. porphyrea are slightly curved at the sides ; 
but in /. estwans it is difficult to decide either way : when the 
abdomen is at all convex there must be a corresponding curva- 
ture ; but this is quite different from the little curved processes 
at the sides, which are the peculiarity in question. In this 
genus there is a broad excavation extending over the whole of 
the meso- and metasterna and the middle of the first abdominal 
segment; a similar excavation is found also in Lybeba, but 
not involving the abdomen. There is aconsiderable difference 
in the coloration of individuals of the same species in this and 
some of the allied genera. 


Enide poryhyrea. 


#. pallide ferruginea, squamis flavescentibus, supra plagiatim rufis 
to) oD 


188 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to 


vel rufo-ferrugineis, omnino dense vestita; rostro antennisque 
pallidioribus, allo prothorace paulo breviore, apice solo nudo, in 
medio leviter carinulato; funiculo articulis duobus basalibus lon- 
gitudine fere wqualibus ; prothorace subtransverso, basi fortiter 
bisinuato ; ; elytris basi prothorace multo latioribus, lateraliter 
modice rotundatis, humeris callosis, striato-punctatis, punctis 
linearibus, interstitiis secundo, tertio, quinto et septimo carinato- 


elevatis. Long. 23-23 lin. 


Hab. Western Australia. 


My specimens from Champion Bay are much paler than 
those from Albany. 
Enide wstuans. 

#. nigra, squamis rufo-ferrugineis, maculatim ochraccis dense ves- 
tita; rostro prothorace longiore, magis subulato, basi lineis 
elevatis tenuiter munito ; funiculi articulo secundo quam primo 
longiore ; prothorace transverso, utrinque modice rotundato, sepe 
ochr aceo- “quadr imaculato; elytris parum brevioribus, postice magis 
latioribus, maculis ochraceis numerosis szepe ornatis, striato- 
punctatis, punctis linearibus, interstitiis convexis, secundo, tertio, 
quinto et septimo elevatis, in medio linea levigata instructis, 
basi singulatim late emarginatis ; corpore infra sparse flavescenti- 
squamoso ; femoribus crassis, anticis margine superiore arcuatis ; 
tibiis anticis longiusculis. Long. 14 lin. 


Hab. Swan River (Albany). 


Prothorax more transverse, the elytra broader posteriorly, 
and the base of each less deeply emarginate, are among the 
most prominent diagnostic characters of this species. 


Enide saniosa. 

E. nigra, squamis saturate ferrugineis, maculatim nigris ochraceisque 
dense vestita; rostro ut in precedente; antennis pallide ferru- 
gineis; oculis minus tenuiter granulatis; prothorace transverso, 
utrinque modice rotundato, fere unicolori; elytris striato-punctatis, 
punctis linearibus, interstitiis vix convexis, eequalibus, maculis 
nigris ochraceisque indeterminatis notatis ; corpore infra sat sparse 
flavescenti- squamoso ; femoribus minus incrassatis, anticis margine 
superiore vix arcuatis; tibiis anticis breviusculis. Long. 1} lin. 


Hab. Fremantle. 


This dark-coloured little species will be readily known from 
the two preceding by the absence of raised lines on the elytra. 


HEpYoPIS. 
Rostrum tenuiter cylindricum ; serobes preemedianee, fere infra rostrum 
currentes. Scapus oculum haud attingens; funiculus articulis 
duobus basalibus clongatis, ceteris gradatim brevioribus, ultimis 


the Australian Curculionide. 189 


obconicis ; clava distineta. Oculi ovati, tenuiter granulati. Pro- 
thorax subconiéus, basi bisinuatus, lobis ocularibus nullis. Elytra 
breviuscula, prothorace multo latiora. Femora incrassata, mutica ; 
tibie antic et intermedi arcuate, apice bicalcarate, posticee 
recta, apicem versus crassiores, spinoso-mucronate ; tarsi articulo 
tertio late bilobo. Abdomen segmentis duobus basalibus ampliatis, 
tribus intermediis ad latera arcuatis. 


Allied to Erytenna; but without ocular lobes, and the an- 
terior and intermediate tibie having two spurs at the apex, 
the inner one the ordinary mucro, the other being claw-shaped 
and arising within the rim of the apex, as in many Crypto- 
rhynchine. ‘The species here described is not unlike Sibinia 
arenarte, 

Hedyopis selligera. 


H. ovata, nigra, sat dense albido-squamosa, in medio plaga magna 
communi ochracea postice atro-marginata ornata; rostro nitido, 
fere nudo, vage punctulato ; antennis ferrugineis ; clava breviter 
ovata; prothorace latitudine longitudini squali, utrinque paulo 
ampliato; scutello triangulari; elytris subcordatis, prothorace 
multo latioribus, striatis, humeris subcallosis, apice rotundatis ; 
corpore infra pedibusque argenteo-squamosis; tibiis anticis lon- 
giusculis. Long. 13 lin. 


Hab. Champion Bay. 


GERYNASSA. 

Rostrum cylindricum, arcuatum, apice latius; scrobes mediane, 
laterales, oblique. Scapus oculum attingens; funiculus 7-articu- 
latus, articulo primo ampliato, secundo vix breviore, ceteris 
brevibus, ultimis transversis ; clava distincta. Oculi subrotundati, 
fortiter granulati. Prothorax transversus, antice constrictus, 
basi subtruncatus. Scwtellwm triangulare. Hlytra ampla, pro- 
thorace multo latiora. Pectws brevissimum, haud canaliculatum. 
Coxe antice contigue, intermedi approximate. Femora crassa, 
mutica; tbe subflexuosze, apice mucronate ; tars? articulo tertio 
bilobo, quarto elongato. Abdomen segmentis duobus basalibus 
amplatis, tribus intermediis ad latera leviter arcuatis. 


The coarsely faceted eyes and subtruncated base of the 
prothorax are the diagnostic characters of this genus, by 
which it may at once be differentiated from Hrytenna; both 
genera, from the breadth of their elytra, havea similar contour. 


Gerynassa nodulosa. 

G. rufo-ferruginea, squamis griseis silaceisque variegata, plagis nigris 
basi prothoracis et circa scutellum notata, aliquando maculis aliis 
adspersa; rostro nitide ferrugineo, basin versus utrinque linea 
elevata instructo; antennis dilute ferrugineis; prothorace pone 
apicem sat abrupte convexo, utrinque ampliato; scutello nigro, 


190 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to 


triangulari; elytris supra ineequaliter striato-punctatis, interstitiis 
tertio et quarto singulatim tribus vel quatuor nodulis nigro- 
squamosis munitis,in medio fascia pallidiore ornatis, humeris paulo 
callosis ; corpore infra pedibusque sejunctim griseo-squamosis. 
Long. 2 lin. 


Hab. West Australia; South Australia. 


Gerynassa basalis. 


G, nigra, squamis ferrugineis et nigrescentibus variegata ; rostro 
nitide ferrugineo, prothorace longiore, versus apicem obsolete 
impunctato ; antennis ferrugineis, scapo apice valde clavato ; funi- 
euli articulo primo quam secundo paulo breviore; clava nigra; 
prothorace ut in precedente; elytris supra equaliter convexis, 
striato-punctatis, singulis basi plaga nigra ornatis, in medio et 
parte apicali nigrescentibus ; corpore infra pedibusque sejunctim 
griseo-squamosis. Long. 21-98 lin, 


Hab. South Australia eeeied 


DICOMADA. 


Rostrum tenuiter cylindricum, apice latius et crassius, arcuatum ; 
scrobes submediane (in D. terrea preemedianze), rectee. Scapus 
oculum haud attingens; funiculus 7-articulatus, articulis duobus 
basalibus elongatis, vel primo solo elongato; clava distincta. 
Oculi tenuiter granulati. Prothorax transversus, postice dilatatus, 
basi rotundatus, vel parum bisinuatus, lobis ocularibus nullis. 
Elytra subcordiformia, leviter convexa; prothorace paulo latiora. 
Pectus breviusculum. Cove intermedi sat remote ; femora in- 
crassata, mutica; t2bi@ flexuose, apice mucronate; tars? lati, 
articulo quarto breviusculo. Abdomen segmentis duobus basalibus 
ampliatis, tribus intermediis ad latera arcuatis. 


Of the three species here described, D. tervea has a shorter 
and proportionally stouter rostrum, with the scrobes more 
towards the apex; the rostrum, however, is in other respects 
essentially the same. Cydmea has the rostrum attenuated 
throughout, and the apex compressed when viewed sideways. 


Dicomada litigiosa. 


D. fusca, squamis concoloribus argenteisque varie vestita; rostro 
prothorace sesquilongiore, vix squamoso, basi subtiliter lineatim 
punctulato; antennis subtestaceis, funiculo gracili; prothorace 
apice multo angustiore, utrinque rotundato; elytris oblongo-sub- 
cordiformibus, striato-punctatis, interstitiis convexis ; corpore infra 
argenteo-squamoso ; pedibus ferrugineis, parce squamosis. Long. 
13 lin. 

Hab. Fremantle. 
In the individual here described there are three lightly 


the Australian Curctlionide. 191 


marked stripes on the prothorax, and an ill-defined band on 
the middle of thé elytra; but in others there is simply a faint 
mottling of brown only to be seen under a good lens. 


Dicomada ovalis. 


D. ferruginea, subtus prothoraceque nigrescentibus, squamis sub- 
aureis parce adspersa; rostro prothorace manifeste longiore, piceo, 
apice pallidiore, scrobibus paulo pone medium incipientibus ; funt- 
culi articulo primo quam secundo duplo longiore; prothorace 
antice latiore, utrinqne pone apicem paulo dilatato, lateribus leviter 
rotundato; elytris breviter subcordiformibus, striato-punctatis, 
interstitiis haud convexis, in medio uniseriatim setulosis ; pedibus 
rufo-ferrugineis, parce squamosis. Long. 1 lin. 


Hab. Swan River (Albany). 


The shorter elytra and somewhat subequilateral form of the 
prothorax are at once distinctive of this species. 


Dicomada terrea. 


D. nigra, subsilaceo-squamosa, medio prothoracis fusco ; rostro minus 
tenui, prothorace vix longiore, basi lineis quinque elevatis munito ; 
scrobibus apicem versus incipientibus; antennis ferrugineis ; 
funiculi articulo primo quam secundo paulo longiore ; prothorace 
apice multo angustiore, utrinque rotundato, in medio longitudina- 
liter fusco ; elytris oblongo-cordiformibus, striis obtectis ; corpore 
infra nigro, squamis albidis adsperso ; pedibus ferrugineis, parce 
squamosis. Long. 13 lin. 


Hab. Champion Bay. 


The scales, without being very closely set, completely hide 
the narrow striz of the elytra. 


PARYZETA. 


Rostrum tenuiter cylindricum, arcuatum, versus apicem gradatim 
latius ; scrobes submedianee, oblique. Scapus oculum attingens ; 
funculus 7-articulatus, articulo primo elongato, incrassato, ceteris 
minusculis; c/eva ampla, distincta. Oculi ovales, tenuiter granulati. 
Prothorax transversus, basi rotundatus, lobis ocularibus nullis. 
Elytra prothorace multo latiora, oblongo-cordiformia. Femora 
incrassata, mutica ; ‘bie subarcuatee, apice obsolete mucronate ; 
tarsi articulo tertio late bilobo, quarto elongato. Coa intermedi 
approximate. Abdomen segmentis duobus basalibus ampliatis, 
tertio quartoque ad latera paulo arcuatis. 


The characters of the rostrum and the narrower elytra are 
those which principally distinguish this genus from eda. 


Erirhinus infirmus will give a good idea of the following 
species. 


192 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to 


Paryzeta mustva. 


P. ovata, ferruginea vel fusca, dense griseo-squamosa ; rostro an- 
tennisque fulvo-testaceis, clava nigricante, illo prothorace sesqui- 
longiore, basi sparse piloso, apice nudo, subtilissime vage punctu- 
lato; prothorace antice multo angustiore, utrinque fortiter 
rotundato ; elytris basi parum convexis, lateribus ad medium sub- 
parallelis, deinde rotundatis, striatis, interstitiis planatis, fasciis 
duabus indeterminatis, aliquando obsoletis, ad suturam interruptis, 
una in medio, altera ante apicem sita; corpore infra pedibusque 
ferrugineis, sat dense albido-squamosis. Long. 13 lin. 


Hab, Champion Bay. 
XEDA. 


Rostrum breviusculum, cylindricum, arcuatum ; scrobes submediane, 
laterales, paulo oblique, ante oculos desinentes. Scapus in ocu- 
lum impingens; funiculus 7-articulatus, articulo primo valido ; 
clava distincta, acuminata. Oculi ovati, laterales, ampliati, 
tenuissime granulati. Prothoraw transversus, subconicus, basi 
rotundatus; lobis ocularibus nullis. lytra ampliata, paulo con- 
vexa. Pectus breve. Coxe antice contiguze, intermedi approx- 
imate ; femora incrassata, mutica ; tiébie paulo arcuate vel sub- 
flexuose, apice mucronate; tarsi articulo tertio bilobo, quarto 
elongato ; wnguiculi divaricati. Abdomen segmentis duobus 
basalibus ampliatis, tribus intermediis lateraliter ‘paulo arcuatis. 


This genus differs from Cydmea (ante, vol. ix. p. 137) in its 
scape impinging on the eye, in the absence of ocular lobes, 
and in the approximation of the intermediate coxe. ‘The two 
species here described are somewhat remarkable for the large 
size of the elytra; of the first there is a small variety with more 


mottled elytra. 
Xeda amplipennis. 


X. nigra, varie griseo-squamosa ; rostro prothorace vix longiore, 
nigro, punctulato, basi linea levigata munito ; antennis ferrugineis, 
clava nigra ; funiculi articulo basali tribus sequentibus conjunctim 
vix breviore; prothorace basi longitudine fere duplo latiore, 
saturatim bivittato ; scutello rotundato ; elytris striato-punctatis, 
interstitiis haud convexis, pone medium fascia maculata nigra 
angusta ornatis; corpore infra femoribusque nigris, dense ar- 
genteo-squamosis ; tibiis tarsisque ferrugineis, squamis angustis 
adspersis. Long. 13 lin. 

Hab. Swan River (Albany). 
Xedu bilineata. 


X. picea, fusco-squamosa, prothorace elytrisque dorso linea interrupta 
albida utrinque ornatis; rostro prothorace paulo breviore, basi 
excepta, lete fulvo; antennis fulvo-ferrugineis, clava nigricanti ; 
funiculi articulo basali duobus sequentibus conjunctim vix lon- 


the Australian Curculionide. 193 


giore ; prothorace basi angustiore, utrinque rotundato, sejunctim 
punctato; scutello minuto; elytris striato-punctatis, interstitiis 
4°, 5°, 6° plus minusve albido-squamosis, postice setulis albis 
raris munitis; corpore infra nigro, argenteo-squamoso ; apicibus 
femorum, tibiis tarsisque fulvo-ferrugineis. Long. 12 lin. 


Hab. Champion Bay. 


One of my specimens, which I take to be a female, has a 
longer unicolorous rostrum. 


OLAN ZA. 

Rostrum paulo arcuatum, apicem versus tenuius ; scrobes preemediane, 
obliquee, infra rostrum cito currentes. Scapus longiusculus, oculo 
impingens ; funiculus 7-articulatus, articulo primo majusculo, 
ceteris breviter obconicis; clava distincta. Oculi minusculi, 
tenuiter granulati. Prothorax angustior, postice rotundatus, basi 
subtruncatus, lobis ocularibus nullis. lytra oblonga, prothorace 
multo latiora. Femormclavata, mutica; tibie subflexuose, apice 
mucronate ; tars? articulo tertio bilobo, quarto elongato. Cove 
intermedi approximate. Abdomen segmentis duobus basalibus 
ampliatis, tribus intermediis ad latera arcuatis. Corpus setosum. 


This genus is trenchantly differentiated by the direction of 
its scrobes and the absence of scales, except on the under parts. 
Its affinities are doubtful. 


Olanea nigricollis. 


O. ovalis, ferruginea, capite, rostro basi, prothorace, elytrisque mar- 
ginibus suturaque nigris ; rostro prothorace paulo longiore, usque 
ad medium parce albido-setosis ; antennis ferrugineis; funiculi 
articulo primo quam secundo fere duplo longiore ; prothorace lon- 
gitudine parum latiore, utrinque rotundato, crebre punctulato, 
setulis erectis adsperso ; elytris oblongo-subcordiformibus, striato- 
punctatis, interstitiis uniseriatim setosis; corpore infra nigro, 
albo-squamoso. Long. 13 lin. 


Hab. Swan River (Albany). 


ANTYLLIS. 

Rostrum longiusculum, cylindricum, vel apicem versus paulo attenu- 
atum ; scrobes submedianz, laterales, infra oculos desinentes. 
Scapus oculum attingens ; funiculus 6-articulatus, articulis duobus 
basalibus breviusculis, ceteris transversis. Ocul minores. Cetera 
ut in Xeda. 

In general appearance like Xeda, but very trenchantly dif- 
ferentiated by its six-jointed funicle. 


Antyllis setosa. 


A. fusea, pedibus rufo-ferrugineis, unguiculis nigris, supra sat dense 
griseo-, in medio cervino-squamosa ; rostro griseo-setoso, dimidio 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol. xi. 13 


194 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to 


apicali rufo-ferrugineo ; antennis ferrugineis, clava nigricante ; 
prothorace manifeste transverso, utrinque valde rotundato ; elytris 
subcordatis, striato-punctatis, interstitiis uniseriatim albido- 
setosis ; corpore infra albido-squamoso. Long. I lin. 


Hab. South Australia. 


Antyllis griseola. 

A. picea, pedibus ferrugineis, unguiculis nigris, supra minus dense 
griseo-, 1n medio cervino-squamosa ; rostro magis subulato, dimidio 
apicali ferrugineo; scapo articuloque basali funiculi ferrugineis, 
reliquis clavaque nigris ; prothorace angustiore, longitudine lati- 
tudini fere quali; elytris striato-punctatis, interstitiis haud 
setosis ; corpore infra dense argenteo-squamoso. Long. 14 lin. 


Hab. Swan River (Albany). 


Differs from the last principally in its longer prothorax and 
absence of setee from the elytra. 


Antyllis aurulenta. 

A. pallide ferruginea, dense aureo-rufescenti-squamosa, setulis albis 
numerosis adspersa ; rostro prothorace paulo breviore, sparse albo- 
setoso, dimidio apicali nigro ; antennis pallidis ; clava nigricante ; 
prothorace longitudine latitudini fere sequali, utrinque leviter 
rotundato ; elytris breviter subcordatis, striato-punctatis, inter- 
stitiis uniseriatim sat confertim setosis; corpore infra pallide 
flavescenti-squamoso. Long. 1 lin. 


Hab. Champion Bay. 


A shorter species proportionally than either of the two pre- 
ceding ; under a Coddington the scales appear of a beautiful 
golden brown (reddish), but in certain lights a little hoary. 


CYTTALIA. 


Caput deflectum, angustum ; rostrwm cum capite gradatim confluens, 
subtenue ; scrobes subapicales, infra rostrum cito currentes. Scapus 
ad marginem posticum oculi attingente; funiculus 7-articulatus, 
articulis duobus basalibus longiusculis, primo crassiore, ceteris 
gradatim brevioribus; clava distincta. . Oculi prominuli, fortiter 
granulati. Prothorax transversus, antice paulo constrictus, basi 
truncatus, lobis ocularibus nullis. lytra ovalia, prothorace 
latiora. Femora incrassata, postica dentata; tibie flexuose, 
apice inermes ; tars? articulo tertio lato, fortiter bilobo ; wnguicula 
divergentes. Coxe antice exserte, contigue. Abdomen segmentis 
duobus basalibus ampliatis. Corpus pilosum. 


A very distinct genus, which agrees with Phrenozemia in 
its narrow head gradually passing into the rostrum; but it is 
pubescent or pilose and not scaly, and its hind femora only are 
toothed. The prothorax is unusually small compared with the 


the Australian Curculionide. 195 


elytra. The two species of the genus, the second of which is 

from New Zealandyare not unlike Orchestes fagi, but con- 

siderably larger. 
Cyttalia grisetpila. 

C. oblongo-ovalis, fusca, subnitida, omnino subtiliter griseo-pilosa, 
supra setulis erectis adspersa; rostro prothoraci longitudine 
eequali, carinulain medio ante apicem desinente ; antennis sub- 
testaceis, scapo apice clavaque nigricantibus ; prothorace latitudine 
paulo breviore, crebre punctato, utrinque modice rotundato ; scu- 
tello minuto, triangulari; elytris quam prothorace ampliatis, et 
plus quadruplo longioribus, substriato-punctatis, punctis paulo 
approximatis ; pedibus posticis longioribus; tibiis longiusculis. 
Long. 2 lin. 

Hab. Sydney. 


Phrenozemia lunata. 


P. oblonga, fusca, squamositate sordide grisea tecta, squamulis pili- 
formibus adspersa; rostro nigro, confertim punctato, basi squa- 
moso; antennis ferrugineis, funiculi articulo primo valde incrassato, 
secundo tertioque conjunctim manifeste brevioribus; prothorace 
cylindrico; elytris striato-punctatis, interstitiis alternis fortiter 
elevatis, tertio quintoque singulatim versus apicem tuberculo parvo 
instructis, pone medium litera V-reversa, nigro-marginata, signatis. 
Long. 13 lin. 

Hab, Western Australia (Fremantle). 


Size and outline of P. lyproides (ante, vol. x. p. 95), but, 
inter alia, at once differentiated by the raised alternate inter- 
stices of the elytra; the coloration and, indeed, the general 
appearance can scarcely fail to recall our Gronops lunatus. 
In the generic formula, owing to some agglutination of the 
hairs in the specimen I examined, the second and third joints 
of the funicle were described as one; in reality, however, P. 
lyproides has the second joint considerably shorter than the 
first, as in this species. 


Meriphus coronatus. 


M. griseo-setulosus, vix nitidus; capite supra nigro ; rostro capite 
fere duplo longiore, subferrugineo, apice nigro; antennis sub- 
ferrugineis, funiculo clavaque infuscatis; prothorace basi minus 
dilatato, crebre rugoso-punctato, silaceo, margine antico nigro; 
elytris silaceis, scutello suturaque nigris, rude striato-punctatis, 
singulis basi emarginatis, humeris callosis; corpore infra nigro, 
squamis niveis rotundatis elongatis intermixtis adsperso; pedibus 
ferrugineis, femoribus in medio nigris. Long. 2 lin. 


Hab. West Australia. 


Besides the difference of colour, this species has the prothorax 
13* 


196 Mr. F. P. Pascoe on Additions to 


narrower at the base, and the elytra on each side of the scu- 
tellum are projected forward, the part between this and the 
shoulder showing a deep emargination. 


Brexius lineatus. 

B. oblongus, niger, squamulis piliformibus griseis adspersus ; rostro 
prothorace breviore, antice carinulis quinque manifeste munito ; 
scrobibus terminalibus ; antennis subferrugineis, clava infuscata ; 
prothorace paulo longiore quam latiore, confertissime granulato- 
punctato ; elytris striato-punctatis, interstitiis in medio uniseriatim 
setosis, alternis paulo elevatis, sexto sordide albido; corpore infra 
nitide castaneo, parce setoso ; femoribus infuscatis ; tiblis tarsisque 
subferrugineis, longe pilosis. Long. 3 lin. 

Hab. Melbourne. 

A dark, almost black, species, notwithstanding its greyish 
scales; the scrobes are completely terminal. I placed Breavus 
with the Amalactine on account of its cavernous corbels, the 
only character apparently that separates it from the Erirhinine. 


Psepholax Mastersii. 

P. ovalis, fuscus, opacus, disperse squamosus ; capite inter oculos ex- 
cavato; rostro brevi, antice et inter oculos dense ferrugineo- 
hirsuto ; antennis ferrugineis ; prothorace transverso, antice multo 
angustiore, utrinque fortiter rotundato, creberrime granulato- 
punctato; elytris striato-punctatis, interstitiis convexis, sat con- 
fertim granulatis; tibiis intermediis in medio dente magno in- 
structis. Long. 4 ln. 


Hab. Wide Bay (Queensland). 
Differs from P. barbifrons, Wh. (Ereb. & Terr., Ins. p. 15), 


in its more closely punctured prothorax, with the intervals 
granuliform, the different form of the intermediate tibiz, &c. 
This and the two following species are interesting as belonging 
toa genus hitherto supposed to be peculiar to New Zealand. 


Psepholax egerius. 

P. obovatus, fuseus, vix nitidus, rostro breviusculo, basi antice et 
inter oculos pallide barbato; antennis ferrugineis, longioribus ; 
prothorace transverso, apice subito constricto, creberrime granulato- 
punctato ; elytris oblongo-cordatis, striato-punctatis, interstitis 
convexis, dense ferrugineo-squamosis, pygidio detecto; tibiis in- 
termediis dente magno instructis. Long, 33 lin. 


Hab. Queensland. 


Tam indebted to Dr. Howitt for my specimens of this species. 
It may be known at once from the preceding by its outline, 
dependent on its short prothorax, suddenly narrowed anteriorly, 
and its cordiform elytra. 


the Australian Curculionide. 197 


Psepholax latirostris. 


P. cylindricus, fuscus, parum nitidus, squamis concoloribus griseo 
irroratis vestitus ; rostro brevi, latissimo, crebre punctato ; oculis 
ovalibus, inter se valde remotis ; antennis ferrugineis, scapo in 
oculum impingente ; prothorace latitudine parum longiore, antice 
angusto, utrinque modice rotundato, confertim punctato; elytris 
longiusculis, striato-punctatis, interstitiis parum convexis, sat 
confertim granulatis ; tibiis intermediis margine exteriore edentatis. 
Long. 4 lin. 


Hab. Ulawarvra. 


It would be better perhaps to consider this species the 
exponent of a new genus. 


Poropterus satyrus. 


P. oblongo-ovatus, convexus, niger, omnino pallide umbrino- 
squamosus ; capite inter,oculos foveato; rostro modice tenuato, 
basi irregulariter sat vage punctato; antennis piceis; funiculi 
articulo secundo quam primo fere duplo longiore ; clava ovata, 
acuminata; prothorace modice convexo, apice vix producto, 
utrinque fortiter rotundato, basi versus scutellum paulo lobato, 
supra squamis erectis claviformibus adsperso; elytris convexis, 
pone medium latioribus, postice gradatim declivibus, apicibus ro- 
tundatis, epipleuris distinctis, supra tuberculato-fasciculatis, gra- 
nulis nitidis paucis prope scutellum obsitis; segmento ultimo 
abdominis tribus preecedentibus conjunctim longitudine eequali ; 
tibiis subtenuatis, manifeste flexuosis; tarsis articulo tertio sat 
fortiter bilobo. Long. 8-9 lin. 


Hab. Tasmania. 


A large coarse species, in outline like P. antiquus, Er., 
which has, ¢nter alia, the first two joints of the funicle equal 
in length, and shorter, nearly straight, tibiee. 


Poropterus tnominatus. 


P. ovatus, minus convexus, niger, umbrino-squamosus ; capite inter 
oculos foveato, fronte carinato; rostro basi confertim, apicem 
versus gradatim minus punctato ; funiculi articulo secundo quam 
primo fere duplo longiore ; claya ovata, obtusa; prothorace ut in 
P, satyro, sed apice parum bituberculato ; elytris brevioribus, 
basi circa seutellum paulo depressis et squamulis concoloribus 
arcte adpressis, apicem versus magis constrictis, singulis fasciculis 
duobus nigricantibus (una subbasali, altera paulo pone medium) 
notatis, apice rotundatis ; corpore infra pedibusque dense squa- 
mosis, squamis claviformibus erectis interjectis. Long. 7 lin, 


Hab. Queensland. 


This species resembles the preceding ; but is shorter, less 
convex, the parts behind the carina, marking the upper margin 


198 On Additions to the Australian Curculionide. 


of the epipleura, abruptly constricted, and the scales at the 
base of the elytra concolorous with and closely fixed to the 
derm, the part, except under a strong lens, appearing denuded. 


Poropterus varicosus. 


P. ovatus, conyexus, niger, capite rostroque umbrino-squamosis ; 
funiculi articulo secundo quam primo duplo longiore, czteris ro- 
tundatis vel submoniliformibus ; prothorace apice paulo producto, 
utrinque manifeste rotundato, tuberculis sex inconspicuis notato— 
duobus apicalibus, quatuor in medio transversim sitis; elytris 
pone medium latioribus, singulis interrupte bicarinato-fasciculatis, 
apice late rotundatis, epipleuris haud determinatis; tibiis brevibus, 
validis, manifeste flexuosis. Long. 5 lin. 


Hab. Wlawarra. 


Much the same kind of outline as the two preceding, but 
more convex, the flanks of the elytra not marked off by a 
carina, shorter and stouter tibia, &c. 


Poropterus oniscus. 


P. ovatus, sat fortiter convexus, niger, capite rostroque squamis um- 
brinis tectus ; rostro valido ; scapo breviusculo, ante medium rostri 
inserto ; funiculi articulo secundo quam primo sesquilongiore ; 
oculis fortiter granulatis ; prothorace antice modice constricto, apice 
paulo angustiore, vix producto, utrinque rotundato, tuberculis fasci- 
culatis sex notato—duobus apicalibus, quatuor transversis ; elytris 
ovalibus, in medio quam prothorace multo latioribus, seriatim punc- 
tatis, interspatiis subtuberculiformibus, squamis majoribus erectis 
adspersis, basi paucifasciculatis, apice rotundatis ; segmentis duobus 
basalibus abdominis valde ampliatis ; tibiis breviusculis, flexuosis. 
Long. 4 lin. 


Hab. Queensland. 


The antenne in nearly all the species of Poropterus are in- 
serted not far from the tip of the rostrum; in this one the 
insertion is nearer the middle. 


Poropterus tumulosus. 


P. ovatus, modice convexus, fuscus, omnino squamis pallide um- 
brinis dense tectus; rostro valido; funiculo articulis duobus 
basalibus haud elongatis, primo quam secundo fere equali, czeteris 
transversis ; clava ovali; oculis tenuissime granulatis ; prothorace 
antice multo angustiore, apice producto, crebre punctato, in medio 
longitudinaliter excayvato, tuberculis duodecim instructo—duobus 
apicalibus, decem in seriebus duabus transversis sitis; elytris 
breviter ovatis, pone medium prothorace multo latioribus, postice 
fortiter declivibus, singulis tuberculis validis cirea viginti sub- 
seriatim positis, apicibus rotundatis ; segmentis duobus basalibus 


On the Silurus and Glanis of the Ancients. 199 


abdominis valde ampliatis; tibiis brevibus, anticis flexuosis, re- 
liquis rectis. Long. 3 lin. 


Hab. South Australia; Tasmania. 


This little species will be easily recognized by the numerous 
tubercles on the elytra. 


Rhinoncus nigriventris. 

&. ovatus, subnitidus, supra pedibusque ferrugineus, parce subtiliter 
pilosus, sternis abdomineque nitide nigris ; rostro breviusculo, sat 
valido ; prothorace crebre punctato, basi nigro-marginato ; elytris 
cordiformibus, striato-punctatis, interstitiis valde convexis, sutura 
basi albido-squamosa ; corpore infra modice punctato. Long. 12 lin. 


Hab. Queensland (Gayndah). 


Ithinoncus was, with one exception, a purely European 
genus ; there are, however, a number of Huropean genera 
with representatives, noteyet described, in Australia; some of 
them are also found in the Malasian region. This species 
is very distinct, and, with all the others from Gayndah men- 
tioned above, have been kindly sent to me by Mr. Masters, 
whose successful explorations I have had so often to mention. 


ERRATUM. 


In vol. ix. p. 139, under Ochrophebe, “scrobes antemediane ” should 
have been “ scrobes postmedianz.” 


XXII.—On the Silurus and Glanis of the Ancient Greeks and 
Romans. By the Rev. W. Houcuton, M.A., F.L.S. 


THERE appears to be no doubt that the sheatfish (Sclurus 
glanis, Linn.), which has of late years attracted some attention 
in this country, was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans 
under the names of sé/urus (ciAovpos) and glanis (yAavis), 
although some of the writers make a distinction between the 
names, and the silurus of one author does not necessarily 
represent the silurus of another. ‘The controversies and con- 
cessions of perplexed critics,” as the late Dr. Badham remarks, 
“caused by this confusion in the ancient nomenclature is 
amusing. Poor Scaliger, having first asserted that the glanis 
and silurus were different fish, and the silurus certainly the 
sturgeon, nexts doubts, and lastly becomes convinced, that the 
silurus was unknown to Aristotle ; and after breaking his head 
to reconcile what was quite irreconcilable, he offers Cardan, at 
last, to give up the controversy altogether, on one condition— 


200 Rev. W. Houghton on the Stlurus 


viz. that if he himself consents no longer to dispute the identity 
of the glanis and silurus, Cardan on his side must forbear to 
teach or listen to others who would make him believe that the 
silurus was the sturgeon. ‘Itaque,’ says he (laying down the 
conditions), ‘silurus sane esto qui et glanis, modo ne glanim 
quis dicat sturionem.’”’ (Prose Halieutics, p. 305, note; see also 
Scaliger, Exerc. ad Card. 218. n. 3.) 

Let us note what classical writers have written as to the 
silurus and glanis. 

Aristotle, in his ‘History of Animals,’ does not once mention 
the silurus by name ; but speaks of a fish called glanis, which 
he says has a tail like a cordylus (newt), that it produces its 
ova in a mass (cuveyés agiaou TO KUnwa) like perch and frogs, 
that large individuals deposit them in deep water, but the 
smaller ones in shallow water near the roots of willows amongst 
weeds and aquatic plants, that the male glanis is very careful 
of the young fry and continues to watch by the eggs and 
young for forty or fifty days to protect them from other fish, 
that the ova of the glanis are as large as the seed of the orobus, 
that it has four branchiz on each side, all divided except the 
last, that the female glanis is better to eat than the male (an 
exception, Aristotle thinks, to fish in general in this respect), 
that this fish, from swimming near the surface, is sometimes 
star-struck and stupified by thunder, that, if it has ever 
once swallowed a hook, it will bite and destroy the hook with 
its hard teeth. This is, I believe, all that the Stagirite has 
written about the glanis; and with the exception perhaps of 
the male of this fish guarding its eggs and young fry, there is 
hardly any thing left by means of which the glanis can be 
identified. Aristotle nowhere speaks of the great size to which 
the sheatfish grows, though he mentions large and small in- 
dividuals ; again, the glanis is represented as swimming near 
the surface, whereas the sheatfish, like the Siluride generally, 
inhabits the bottom of the water. 

ZKlian appears to consider the glanis and silurus distinct 
species of the same family. He speaks of the glanis as being 
found in the Meander (Mendere) and Lycus (Tchoruk-Su), 
rivers of Asia (Minor), also in Europe in the Strymon (Struma 
or Carasou), and says it resembles the silurus. He mentions 
the fondness of the male for its eggs, but here, perhaps, is only 
quoting Aristotle. 

Of the silurus, however, AZlian gives us some interesting 
and definite information. He tells us that “in the Hgyptian 
city of Bubastis there is a pond in which are preserved a great 
number of siluri, which are quite tame and gentle; the people 
throw them pieces of bread ; and the fish jump about one before ° 


and Glanis of the Ancients, 201 


the other in their desire to seize the morsels. This fish is also 
found in rivers, as#in the Cydnus (Tersoos) in Cilicia; but 
here it is small, the reason of which is that the clear pure water 
of this river, which is moreover very cold, does not supply 
the fish with abundant food, the siluri loving disturbed and 
muddy water, in which they fatten. The Pyramus (Jihun) 
and Sarus (Sihun), also Cilician rivers, produce much finer 
specimens. ‘The siluri are also found in the Syrian Orontes 
(Nahr el Asy), in the river of the Ptolemies (Belus, the modern 
Nahr N’man, which enters the Mediterranean near Ptolemais 
in Palestine), and in the lake of Apameia, where they grow 
to a largewsize.” (Nat. Hist. xi. 29.) 

fKlian is probably correct in all that he has stated here. 
The Siluridz are still found in the Syrian rivers, as we learn 
from Russell, in his ‘Natural History of Aleppo,’ and from 
Hiickel, who enumerates three genera. The lake of Apameia, 
in which the siluri are safd by Adlian to grow to a large size, 
appears to be identical with Ayn el Taka (‘‘a large spring 
issuing from near the foot of a mountain, and forming a small 
lake which communicates with the Orontes”’), visited and 
described by Burckhardt in 1812. This traveller says that 
the temperature of the spring is “like that of water which has 
been heated by the sun in the midst of summer ; it is probably 
owing to this temperature that we observed such vast numbers 
of fish in the lake, and that they resort here in the winter from 
the Orontes ; it is principally the species called by the Arabs 
the black fish, on account of its ash-coloured flesh; its length 
varies from 5 to 8 feet.’ The fishery was in Burckhardt’s 
time in the hands of the governor of Kalét el Medyk (7. e. 
castle of Medyk), the ancient Apameia, capital of the province 
of Apamene, which Seleucus Nicator fortified and called after 
the name of his wife. The fish were principally caught during 
the night in small boats, with harpoons, in enormous quantities ; 
they were salted on the spot and carried all over Syria and to 
Cyprus, for the use of the Christians during their fasts. The 
governor of Kalat el Medyk derived income from this fishery 
amounting to about £3000. ‘The lake is about 10 feet deep ; 
“its breadth is quite irregular, being seldom more than half 
an hour; its length is about one hour and a half.” There 
seems to be no doubt that the species of Siluroid spoken of by 
/Elian as inhabiting this lake is the Stlurus anguillaris figured 
by Russell (Aleppo, ii. pl. 8), who says the market is plentifully 
supplied with this fish from winter till March ; it comes, he 
says, from tle Orontes and stagnant waters near that river. 
“Though it has a rank taste, resembles coarse beef in colour, 
and by the doctors is considered unwholesome, it is much 


202 Rev. W. Houghton on the Stlurus 


eaten by the Christians. It is vulgarly called the black fish 
(Simmak al Aswad) ; but the natives affirm the proper name to 
be Siloor.” (ii. p. 217.) It would be interesting to know 
whether modern travellers have visited this lake and reported 
on its fish. The Stlurus anguillaris, Linn., is perhaps the 
Clarias Orontis mentioned by Dr. Giinther. 

In chapter 25 of Aulian’s 14th book there is the following 
account of a curious method of catching siluri, pursued by the 
ancient Mysian inhabitants of Scythia and the Danubian 
districts, which is interesting and amusing. The species of 
fish here referred to is, I presume, the large European Si/urus 
glanis. “An Istrian fisherman drives a pair of oxen down 
to the river-bank, not, however, for the purpose of ploughing ; 
for as the proverb says there is nothing in common between 
an ox and a dolphin, so we may say, what can a fisherman’s 
hands have to do with the plough? Ifa pair of horses are at 
hand, then the fisherman makes use of horses; and with the 
yoke on his shoulders down he goes and takes his station at a 
spot which he thinks will make a convenient seat for himself, 
and be a good place for sport. He fastens one of the ends of 
the fishing-rope, which is very strong and suitable, to the 
middle of the yoke, and supplies either the horses or the oxen, 
as the case may be, with sufficient fodder, and the beasts take 
their fill. To the other end of the rope he fastens a very strong 
and sharp hook baited with the lung of a wild bull; and this 
he throws into the water as a lure to the Istrian silurus (a very 
sweet lure for the fish), having previously attached a piece of 
lead of sufficient size to the rope near the place where the hook 
is bound on, for the purpose of regulating its position in the 
water. When the fish perceives the bait of bull’s flesh, he 
rushes immediately at the prey, and, meeting with what he so 
dearly loves, opens wide his great jaws and greedily swallows 
the dreadful bait; then the glutton, turning himself round with 
pleasure, soon finds that he has been pierced unawares with 
the hook, and being eager to escape from his calamity, shakes 
the rope with the greatest violence. The fisherman observes 
this, and is filled with delight ; he jumps from his seat, and— 
now in the character of a fisherman, now in that of a plough- 
man (like an actor who changes his mask in a play)—he urges 
on his oxen or his horses, and a mighty contest takes place 
between the monster («Tos) and the yoked animals; for the 
creature (the foster-child of the Ister) draws downwards with 
all his might, while the yoked animals pull the rope in the 
opposite direction. The fish is beaten by the united efforts of 
two, gives in, and is hauled on to the bank.” 

The sheatfish, it is well known, still occurs in the Danube, 


and Gilanis of the Antients. 203 


‘and often grows to an enormous size; so that A#lian’s account 
of fishing for it may hardly be exaggerated. Some years ago 
there was an amusing drawing in ‘ Punch’s Almanac’ of an 
angler, whose fishing-apparatus consisted of a portable crane 
on wheels with ropes and pulleys, fishing for these same siluri, 
in case of their ever growing to a gigantic size in the rivers of 
this country. 

It is not quite certain whether Pliny meant to distinguish 
between the silurus and the glanis. Of the latter he only says, 
“cautius qui glanis vocatur, aversos mordet hamos, nec devorat 
sed esca spoliat” (Nat. Hist. ix. 43). He may here be referring 
to what Aristotle says in the passage I have quoted above. 
Of the silurus he says that it inhabits “a lake called Nilides, 
formed by the Nile (v. 9), also that it occurs in the rivers of 
the Fortunate Islands (Canaries) (vi. 32). He enumerates the 
silurus of the Nile amongst the fish which grow to an enormous 
size, speaks of the devastation it commits, and adds that it 
sometimes drags horses under the water as they swim (ix. 15) ; 
the male takes care of the eggs (ix.51). Atheneus quotes old 
writers who appear to regard the glanis and silurus as distinct 
fish; the glanis is always much esteemed as a dainty dish. 
Matron, the parodist, mentions this fish, with numerous others, 
as one of the choice items at an Attic banquet (Athenzus, iv. 
136,c). Athenzeus compares a large fish found in the Nile to 
the fish called glanis which is found in the Danube (vii. 311, f). 
He mentions the silurus four times. In one passage he merely 
names it as one he remembered when he was in Egypt (vil. 
312, b); in another passage (vii. 287, b) he asks “why people do 
not call the fish wedoupos instead of o/Aoupos, as he has his name 
from constantly shaking his tail (aro Tod cetew TH odpav).” 
In other passages the word silurus is used with the epithet 
“bad” or stinking, as Sopater the parodist writes (vi. 230, e): 


Lampov aidoupoy apyupous rival éxwv 


(‘a stinking silurus on a silver dish”) ; and Diodorus of Sinope, 
speaking of flattering parasites, says that if a man were to eat 
cabbages and stinking siluri they would immediately say that 
his breath smelt delightfully of violets and roses : 


ois €reLON TpocEpvyot, 
a> a ‘ , 
papavidas i) Campoy oioupoy karapaywr, 
ta kat pod’ Epacay abroy rprarynévac. 


(vi. 239, e.) 


And the bad quality attributed to the silurus by Athenzeus 
reminds one of what Juvenal has said to the same effect. He 
reminds Crispinus of his low birth and former low occupation, 


204 Rev. W. Houghton on the Stlurus — 


when he used to hawk about siluri for sale in the streets of 
Alexandria :— 


Iam princeps Equitum, magna qui voce solebat 
Vendere municipes fricta de merce siluros. 


(Sat. iv. 32, 33.) 


And the miser puts by for to-morrow’s dinner the summer bean, 
a bit of lizard-fish, with half a stinking silurus :— 
nec non differre in tempora czense 
Alterius conchem estivam cum parte lacerti 
Signatam vel dimidio putrique siluro. 
(Sat. xiv. 130.) 

Several kinds of Scluri are now found in the Nile ; and it is 
probable that Juvenal is referring to some small-sized fish of 
that family which was much used by the poor people. Both 
the lacertus and the silurus were salted and sent over to Rome, 
just as we have seen the black fish from the lake of Apameia 
were salted and sent to Aleppo, as recorded by Burckhardt and 
Russell. The “‘fricta de merce” appears to allude to the mode 
in which the fish were prepared. “ Pisces fricti,” says Apicius, 
“ut diu durent, eodem momento quo friguntur et levantur, aceto 
ealido perfunduntur.”” Both Diodorus and Lucian tell us that 
the Egyptians used to export large quantities of salt fish. 
“The Nile,” says Diodorus (i. 36), “‘ produces all kinds of fish 
in great abundance ; it not only supplies abundant food which 
is eaten fresh by the natives, but an endless number (7A7j0o0s 
avéxNerTTov) which are salted and sent abroad.” Lycinus 
(in Lucian, Navigium, cap. xv.) implores his friend “ by Isis, 
to remember to bring him from Egypt the little salted fish of 
the Nile, or ointment from Canopus, or an ibis from Memphis, 
or” (he jocularly adds) “ if his ship was big enough, even one of 
the pyramids.” 

The “ stinking siluri”’ of Athenzeus and Juvenal therfore no 
doubt allude to salted fish which, from being often hastily and 
carelessly prepared and hawked about the streets of Rome or 
other towns in the hot month of September, would merit the 
epithet applied to them. 

Pausanias (Gracie Descrip. iv. cap. xxxiv.) says that “ the 
Grecian rivers do not produce creatures destructive to man, as 
the Indus, the Egyptian Nile, the Rhine, the Ister, Euphrates, 
and Phasis; for these rivers nourish creatures which devour 
men, and in form they resemble the g/anides of Hermus and 
the Meander, excepting that they are blacker and stronger.” 

From the passages quoted it seems that various kinds of 
Siluri were known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, some- 
times under the name of silurus, sometimes under that of glanis. 


and Glanis of the Ancients. 205 


They do not mention them as fishes either of Greece or Italy ; 
and I believe no species of this family is now found in the 
rivers of those countries. With regard to the male (S¢/urus 
glanis) protecting its fry, I am not aware whether any modern 
observer has recorded this circumstance. It is well known that 
some male members of the Siluridz make nests and watch over 
their eggs and young ones, like the sticklebacks of this country. 
Dr. Hancock has described two species of the genus Doras 
(the round-headed and flat-headed hassars of Demerara) which 
evince great care for their young ; and I believe Agassiz has 
noticed the same thing in two other genera of the same family. 
The males of Arius jissus and A, Commersonii carry the eggs 
in their mouth, the latter species even ‘hatching them there. 
The peasants of Wallachia say that the males of Stlurus glanis 
protect their young. 

There is one more passage which requires a little considera- 
tion. In this one it is cértain that the name s¢/wrus does not 
stand for any of the Siluride, but must mean a sturgeon. 
Even at the risk of disturbing the manes of J. C. Scaliger and 
Cardan I maintain that the silurus of the Moselle as sung of 
by Ausonius can be nothing else than a sturgeon. 

Here are Ausonius’s lines :— 


Nune pecus equoreum celebrabere magne Silure : 

Quem velut Actzeo perductum tergora olivo 

Amnicolam Delphina reor ; sic per freta magnum 

Laberis, et longi vix corporis agmina solvis 

Aut brevibus defensa vadis, aut fluminis ulvis : 

Aut cum tranquillos moliris in amne meatus, 

Te virides ripe, te cerula turba natantum, 

Te liquide mirantur aque: diffunditur alveo 

Adstus, et extremi procurrunt margine fluctus. 

Talis Atlantiaco quondam Balzna profundo, 

Cum vento motuve suo telluris ad oras 

Pellitur, exclusum fundit mare, magnaque surgunt 

Equora, vicinique timent decrescere montes. 

Hic tamen, hic nostrz mitis Balena Moselle, 

Exitio procul est, magnoque honor additus amni. 
(Avson. Jd. x. 135-149.) 


Hardly asingle sentence in this description can apply to the 
Silurus glanis: the arrow-like dartings of the unbending body 
cannot possibly refer to the sluggish, slow-swimming, mud-lov- 
ing sheatfish ; the voracious silurus can never be called “ mitis 
Baleena:” but the whole description is well suited either to the 
common sturgeon or to the huso. ‘The name river-dolphin is 
applicable not only in some degree to the general form of the 
sturgeon, but especially to the shape of its head; the “ pecus 


206 Prof. A. E. Verrill on the Mollusca 


eequoreum’”’ may refer to the gregarious habits of that fish ; 
“mitis Balena’’ is equally applicable to the mild and in- 
offensive sturgeon, while the “ agmina defensa corporis’ seem 
to allude to the bony plates on that fish’s body. There are, 
it is true, other classical designations for the sturgeon more 
generally used, such as acipenser and helops; but in this 
passage of Ausonius, s¢/wrus certainly stands for that fish. 
Whether sturgeons are now found in the Moselle I am unable 
to say. 

The flesh of the silurus formed part of the ancient pharma- 
copeeia. Dioscorides (Mat. Med. 1. 29) says that in a fresh 
state it is nourishing and good for the bowels ; but when salted 
it has no nutriment, though it is good for clearing the bronchial 
tubes and for the voice ; used as a poultice it draws out thorns, 
while the brine from it is good in early stages of dysentery. 


XXIT.—Remarks on certain Errors in Mr. Jeffreys’s Article 
on “The Mollusca of Europe compared with those of Kastern 
North America.” By A. E. VERRILL, Professor of Zoology 
in Yale College, New Haven, Conn., U.S. A. 


In the October number of the ‘Annals and Magazine of Natural 
History’ Mr. Jeffreys published an article upon this interesting 
subject, in which many important errors occur, due, no doubt, 
to the fact that the distinguished author is much less familiar 
with American than with European shells. But as the 
dredgings in connexion with the investigations of our fisheries 
by the U.S. Fish Commission were under my superintendence 
during the two past seasons, and Mr. Jeffreys alludes to the 
fact (though rather indefinitely) that he, by invitation of Pro- 
fessor Baird, accompanied us on several dredging-excursions 
in 1871, it seems necessary that I should point out some of the 
more important of these errors, lest it be supposed by some 
that the same views are held by me. 

It is not my intention to discuss at this time the numerical 
results presented by Mr. Jeffreys; but I would remind the 
readers of his article that the regions compared are in no respect 
similar or parallel, and that it is scarcely fair to compare the 
shells from the entire coast of Europe with those from about 
200 miles of the coast of New England, where the marine 
climate is for the most part more arctic than that of the extreme 
north of Scotland—and, moreover, that the last edition of 
Gould’s ‘ Invertebrata of Massachusetts’ contains only a part 
of the species added to our fauna since the first edition was 
published in 1841, and very little of the great mass of facts 


of Europe and North America. 207 


in regard to distribution, &c., which have been accumulated 
by American naturalists during the last thirty years. Con- 
sequently that work is far from being a good ‘standard of 
comparison.” ‘To make a just comparison, all the shells on 
our coast, from Labrador to Florida, should be compared with 
those of Europe. 

And without going into a long discussion of his peculiar 
views on the geographical distribution of our shells, [ would 
remark that, to an American, it seems rather singular that 
most HKuropean writers, whether zoologists or botanists, find it 
necessary to trace back to a Kuropean origin all the existing 
species of this country, and to suppose that they have 
“migrated” from Kurope to America and other countries in 
spite of opposing currents and all other obstacles. Thus Mr. 
Jeffreys can imagine that our land and freshwater shells could 
have migrated from Europe all the way across Asia, the Pacific 
Ocean and North Amerita in order to reach Canada and New 
England; but he does not seem to think it possible that they may 
have originated in America, and thence crossed to Europe 
in the direction of the prevailing currents and winds. Never- 
theless geology teaches us that America was a great continent, 
in very early ages, when Europe was only a group of islands, 
that no other country is richer in the remains of terrestrial ani- 
mals and plants connecting the Tertiary and Cretaceous ages 
with the present, that many of these supposed European forms 
(whether terrestrial or marine) can be traced back into our Ter- 
tiary formations quite as far (if not further) than they can in 
Europe, and that many of the genera of animals, and especially 
of plants, now found living in both countries can be traced back 
to the Cretaceous in America and only to the Tertiary in 
Europe. Moreover the great number and diversity of the 
land and freshwater shells of America (e. g. of Unionide, 
Melanie, &c.), and the peculiar facts in their geographical 
distribution, cannot but convince any one familiar.with the 
subject that they have originated in America at a very remote 
period; which is confirmed by the fact that many of these can 
be traced far back into our Tertiary formations. Nor are there 
sufficient reasons for supposing that those of our species living 
also in Europe have had a history different from those that are 
still peculiar to America. 

Of course no one will deny that certain species of land-shells 
have been introduced from Europe in modern times by human 
agency ; but, so far as most of the identical species are con- 
cerned, it seems to us far more probable that America gave them 
to Europe, rather than the contrary, and this whether animals 
or plants, terrestrial or marine. 


208 Prof. A. E. Verrill on the Mollusca 


But the special errors to which I wish to call attention occur 
in the table of species, showing their geographical distribution. 
These relate both to the names and specific identity of certain 
shells, and to the geographical distribution. Although not 
agreeing with the author in regard to many of his remarks con- 
cerning the generic relations and names of species, I do not 
propose to discuss them here; for there seems to be no danger 
of their general adoption either in Europe or America. 

The following marine’ species (named as in Gould) which 
Mr. Jeffreys puts down as belonging to the region north of 
Cape Cod, actually belong properly to the region south of 
Cape Cod, extending in most cases to the Carolina coasts or 
beyond, while north of Cape Cod they are rare or local, viz.:— 
Cochlodesma Leanum, Mactra lateralis, Petricola pholadiformis, 
P. dactylus, Gouldia mactracea, Cytherea convexa, Venus 
mercenaria, V. notata, Gemma gemma, Liocardium Mortoni, 
Arca transversa, Modiola plicatula, Pecten trradians, Ostrea 
virginiana, Anomia electrica (not of Linn.), Diaphana debilis, 
Cylichna oryza, Placobranchus catulus, Crepidula fornicata, 
C. plana, C. convexa, C. glauca, Ianthina fragilis, Bittium 
Greenti, Odostomia bisuturalis, O. seminuda, Turbonilla in- 
terrupta, Pleurotoma bicarinata, P. plicata, Nassa obsoleta, 
Buccinum cinereum, Diacria trispinosa, Loligo Pealit. 

The following, to which a northern distribution is likewise 
given, are also found far south of Cape Cod, and many of them 
belong quite as much to the southern as to the northern division; 
and some of them are decidedly southern, extending even to the 
Gulf of Mexico :—Teredo navalis, T. megotara, T. chlorotica, 
Solen ensis, Machera costata, Pandora trilineata, Lyonsia 
hyalina, Mactra solidissima, Kellia planulata, Macoma fusca, 
Tellina tenera, Astarte castanea, A. quadrans, A. sulcata, 
Nucula proxima, Yoldia limatula, Mytilus edulis, Elysia chlo- 
rotica, Crucibulum striatum, Littorina rudis, L. tenebrosa, 
L. palliata, Lunatia heros, L. triseriata, Nassa trivittata, 
Melampus bidentatus, Alexia myosotis. 

Many others, not named in the above lists, are not limited 
by Cape Cod; but as they belong properly to the northern 
division, they are here omitted. 

As an offset to these numerous instances in which he has 
unduly exaggerated our northern fauna, we find not one un- 
doubted instance of an error on the other side, among the 
marine shells. 

The distribution indicated for our land and freshwater shells 
is even more erroneous. It is sufficiently evident that Cape 
Cod is in no sense a proper boundary between the northern and 
southern fluviatile and terrestrial species ; but, disregarding 


of Europe and North America. 209 


this, there are no reasons whatever for most of the special in- 
dications that he gives. 

Thus he gives the northern distribution to all of the sixteen 
species of Spherium and Pistdium ; but most of them are well 
known to be widely distributed over the eastern, middle, and 
western parts of the United States, some even extending to the 
southern parts. Unio complanatus, U. nasutus, Margaritana 
arcuata, and Anodon implicatus are indicated as distributed 
north of Cape Cod; but all these are found over most of the 
northern and middle states and some in the western, while the 
last one is somewhat rare at the north. But Unio radiatus, 
U. cartosus, U. ochraceus, Margaritana undulata, M. mar- 
ginata, Anodon fluviatilis, and A. undulatus are put down as 
southern. It would certainly be difficult to show that these, 
as a group, are more southern than the previous lot; for most 
of them have nearly the same wide distribution, and all of them, 
except U. cariosus, occur even in Maine. Some of them (as 
U. radiatus, M. undulata, and A. fluviatilis) are tbe most 
abundant species in all the waters of northern New England 
and New Brunswick. ‘The distribution given for the species 
of Valvata, Melantho, and Amnicola is equally faulty. 

All of the eighty-one species of Helix, Hyalina, Macrocyclis, 
Limax, Pupa, Vertigo, Succinea, Arion, Zonites, Tebennophorus, 
Limnea, Physa, Bulinus, Planorbis, and Ancylus are set down 
as having the northern distribution, except Hyalina Binneyana, 
Pupa fallax, Limnea catascopium, and Physa ancillaria. 
But every American conchologist knows that nearly all of 
those species are very widely distributed over North America, 
east, west, north, and south, many of them being limited only 
by the Gulf of Mexico on the south and California or the 
Pacific on the west. Nor is there any reason for the distinction 
made in the case of the four species named above ; for these, 
though differing among themselves, have the same distribution 
as many of those put down as northern, while H. Binneyana 
and P. ancillaria certainly have a very northern range, for 
they are abundant in Maine, New Brunswick, and Canada. 

It is evident that such numerous errors of this kind render 
the paper, so far as geographical distribution is concerned, 
quite worthless ; for it is sure to mislead. 

Most of these errors might have been easily avoided had the 
author depended less on Gould’s work and more on the recent 
works of American conchologists ; for there is no lack of data 
in regard to the distribution of most of our shells. Even Dr. 
Stimpson’s ‘Shells of New England’ (1851), if consulted, 
might have saved most of the errors in regard to the distribution 
of the marine shells. 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 14 


210 Prof. A. E. Verrill on the Mollusca 


The fact that there is in the southern and shallower parts of 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence an isolated colony of southern shells 
may have misled Mr. Jeffreys in many cases, especially as he 
evidently consulted the Canadian collections much more than 
those of the United States, many of the largest of which he 
did not see at all. In respect of erroneous identifications and 
the reduction of certain species to varieties, there is also much 
to be said; but this article is already so long that it will be 
necessary to refer only to some of the more obvious and im- 
portant errors of this kind, leaving the rest to be discussed 
more fully elsewhere. 

Every naturalist should be willing to allow his fellow natu- 
ralists full liberty of opinion with respect to the specific identity 
or difference of closely allied forms ; and no one can claim to be 
infallible in such matters. Some of the errors to be mentioned 
do not, however, come under this head; for the species united 
have only remote affinities. Nevertheless the naturalist who 
has collected and carefully studied animals in their native 
haunts, under various circumstances, in many localities, and in 
great numbers, has, other things being equal, a very great ad- 
vantage in these matters; and therefore I believe that Mr. 
Jeffreys would in most cases agree with me had he collected 
and studied as many American shells as I have during the 
past fifteen years, or if he were as familiar with them as he is 
with the British species. In most of the cases to which I refer, 
my own conclusions are in harmony with those of Dr. Stimpson, 
who devoted so many years to collecting and carefully studying 
our shells, and who is well known for his accuracy in such 
matters. And it would be strange indeed if all American 
naturalists, as well as many eminent foreign ones, have always 
been making such ridiculous blunders in regard to some of our 
most familiar shells as Mr. Jeffreys would have us believe. 

Thus he states (p. 240) that “Gemma gemma” (or Tottenia 
gemma) is the young of Venus mercenaria! But it has long 
been known to European as well as American conchologists 
that the animal of gemma is very different from that of mer- 
cenaria, and quite peculiar ; that the hinge is constructed on a 
very different type is well known; and Prof. G. H. Perkins 
has shown (Proc. Bost. Soc. N. H. 1869, p. 148) that gemma 
is viviparous, producing about three dozen young with well- 
formed shells at one time. Moreover the young shells of 
mercenaria, smaller than the adult gemma, are sufficiently 
abundant on our shores, and may be seen in many American 
collections; they are certainly very unlike the gemma in form, 
sculpture, and hinge, as has been well known for more than 
thirty years. 


of Europe and North America. 21] 


Again, he states that Arca transversa is a variety of Arca 
pexata, the former*being put down as northern, the latter as 
southern. That these shells are widely different in form and 
in the structure of the hinge is well known; for Dr. J. E. Gray 
many years ago established a new genus (Argina) for the 
latter on account of its very peculiar hinge. That the animals 
are also quite different I can assert from personal observation. 
Moreover the differences in the hinge, epidermis, and form 
are remarkably constant; and, finally, the two species have 
the same geographical range from Cape Cod to South Carolina, 
and are often found together. Both are very common in Long- 
Island Sound and New-Haven harbour; and I have examined 
hundreds of specimens of both species without finding the 
slightest evidence in favour of Mr. Jeffreys’s views. Indeed 
they are only distantly related, and evidently belong to distinct 
genera, Argina and Scapharca, where several writers have 
placed them. 

He also states that Mactra ovalis is a variety of M. solidis- 
sima. He may not have seen a specimen of the true ovalis, 
for it is not common in collections; but the genuine ovalis is 
certainly a very well-marked species, widely different from the 
solidissima. They differ greatly in the hinge, epidermis, form 
of shell, and position of the umbos ; moreover the animals are 
also quite different. Both occur together of equal size in the 
Bay of Fundy ; but the former is not known south of Cape 
Cod, while the solidissima is abundant everywhere along our 
sandy shores to South Carolina. 

Concerning Astarte castanea he says, “ Perhaps a variety 
of A. borealis, Ch. 3” but castanea is one of the best-defined 
species in this difficult genus, varies comparatively little, and 
does not extend far north, its range being decidedly southern. 
It is perfectly distinct from A. borealis. He reduces A. qua- 
drans to a variety of A. castanea, and gives it a name that is 
quite uncalled for, even if this view were correct. He then 
makes A. portlandica a variety of A. compressa; but I have 
already shown (Amer. Journ. of Science, April 1872) that it 
is a variety of A. qguadrans. His arrangement of the other 
species of Astarte is equally objectionable, but it is not necessary 
to discuss them here. 

The Pecten fusus, Linsley, is given as the young of 
P. trradians, from which it is very distinct; but the writer 
has shown (Amer. Journ. of Science, vol. 1. p. 361, and 
vol. ii. p. 213, 1871-72) that it is really the young of P. 
tenwicostatus. 

Dekay is given as the authority for ols salmonacea and 
AG. gymnota ; but they were both described by Couthouy in 

14* 


212. On the Mollusca of Europe and North America. 


1838, from whom Dekay borrowed both the descriptions and 
figures five years later. 

He states that Dentalium dentale (non Linn.) is a variety 
of Entalis striolata, and that the latter is a variety of D. 
abyssorum, Sars; but both of these statements are incorrect. 
The first is the Dentalium occidentale, Stimpson, and is a true 
Dentalium, entirely different, generically and specifically, from 
the striolata; and the latter is also quite distinct from abyssorum. 
Possibly Mr. Jeffreys has not seen perfect specimens of all the 
American species ; otherwise I cannot understand how he could 
have made these statements. 

He is correct in considering Crepidula glauca a variety 
of C. fornicata, as others have done before him ; but he has 
adopted a serious mistake, made by several other writers, in 
regarding C. plana (or unguiformis) also as a variety of C. 
fornicata, from which it is really very distinct. It is a very 
common error to suppose that this species always inhabits the 
inside of dead univalve shells; for it very often occurs on the 
outside of such shells, on stones, the back of Limulus, &c., 
and is frequently associated intimately with fornicata in all 
these situations ; but nevertheless it always retains its essential 
characters under all circumstances. ‘The typical fornicata is 
also often found with it, plentifully, on the znside of dead 
shells. 

Nor can Margarita acuminata be the young of MW. varicosa ; 
for in our collection there are full-grown specimens of both, 
equal in size, from Labrador. 

There is no sufficient reason for adopting the name Lacuna 
divaricata in place of L. vincta ; for itis not the Trochus divari- 
catus of Linné (1767), although it is the shell described under 
the same name by Fabricius in 1780, as shown long ago by 
Dr. Stimpson and others. Fabricius made a mistake which 
we have no right to perpetuate; nor does ‘ usage,” to which 
Mr. Jeffreys so often appeals, sanction the change. 

The Lunatia triseriata is not, as Mr. Jeffreys thinks, the 
young of L. heros, but only a colour-variety, as the writer had 
previously shown (April 1872). Both varieties occur together, 
from the smallest to the largest sizes; but the former some- 
times becomes plain-coloured before reaching maturity. ‘There 
is no evidence that Natica clausa is the Nerita affinis of 
Gmelin, but quite the contrary ; for the latter was placed in the 
section of wmbilicated species, was described as silvery within, 
and came from New Zealand! It is probably one of the 
Trochide, and certainly could not have been this ¢mperforate 
Natica. 

In this place I shall not enter into a discussion of te 


On Cervus chilensis and Cervus antisiensis. 2t3 


numerous cases in which the author has reduced the American 
shells to ‘varieties ¥ of the European species, because in many 
of these cases there must long be great diversity of opinion, 
and for most purposes it matters little whether these closely 
related forms be called “varieties” or “species,” so long as 
the actual differences are recognized. But since Mr. Jeffreys 
has evidently made so many important mistakes in his article 
in regard to the identity of species, and has united those that 
have no near affinities, as already shown, it is logical to con- 
clude that he may have made other mistakes in the case of 
more critical species. He must therefore pardon us if we 
regard his decisions in all these cases as at least doubtful, until 
confirmed by other evidence. 


XXIV.—Remarks on oer chilensis and Cervus antisiensis. 
By P. L. Sciater, M.A., F.R.S., Secretary to the Zoological 
Society of London. 


I BEG leave to offer to the readers of the ‘Annals’ a few remarks 
upon the paper “On the Guémul (Huamela leucotis)” by Dr. 
Gray, which appeared in the number for December last (Ann. 
Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. x. p. 445). The acquisition of the male 
sex of the deer proposed by Dr. Gray to be called Huamela 
leucotis is of much interest. But Dr. Gray seems to have 
overlooked the fact that this deer had been named Cervus chi- 
lensis by Gay and Gervais in 1846 (Ann. des Sci. Nat. ser. 3, 
vol. v. p. 91), three years before he published a description of it 
as Cervus leucotis (P. Z. S. 1849, p. 64). Under these circum- 
stances Cervus chilensis is the oldest name for this animal, 
under which name it has also been figured and described in 
Gay’s ‘Historia de Chile.’ It may be objected that the name 
chilensis is inappropriate, as the animal is more particularly 
Patagonian than Chilian. But Dr. Philippi, as will be seen 
by reference to his remarks (Wiegm. Arch. 1870, pt. 1. p. 46), 
says that the Guémul, or Cervus chilensis, though now rare, 
zs found in Chili, and gives notices of several places called 
after its name, from its having formerly occurred there. 

As regards the allied species of deer of which Mr. Whitely 
has sent specimens from Tinta in Peru, and which Dr. Gray 
has called Anomalocera huamel, Xenelaphus huamel, and Xene- 
laphus leucotis, and now proposes to call Xenelaphus anoma- 
locera, I may state that I have examined the specimens now 
in the British Museum, and have convinced myself that they 
are referable to Cervus antistensis of D’Orbigny. ‘Tschudi 


214 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Guémul. 


(‘Fauna Peruana,’ Mamm. p. 241) has already recorded the 
existence of this deer in the Andes of Peru. The horns of the 
male specimen figured in P. Z. 8. 1869, p. 497, are, in my 
opinion, monstrous or diseased; such distorted specimens are 
not unfrequently met with in several species of deer. 

I am therefore of opinion that, although Dr. Gray is correct 
in distinguishing his so-called Huamela leucotis from his Xene- 
laphus anomalocera, the former (from Patagonia and Chili) 
should stand as Cervus chilensis, and the latter (from Peru and 
Bolivia) as Cervus antisiensis. If a generic or subgeneric 
name is required for these two closely allied species, Hurcifer 
of Wagener (Siiugeth. Suppl. vol. iv. p. 384, 1844) is the first 


given, and should be employed. 


XXV.—Further Remarks on the Guémul of Patagonia 
(Huamela leucotis). By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


In the ‘Annals’ for December 1872, p. 445, I gave an account 
of the skins of a male and female Guémul from Patagonia, 
presented by Don Enrique Simpson, and stated that it was 
the same animal that I had described and figured under the name 
of Capreolus leucotis (P. Z. 8. 1849, p. 64, t. xii.), which Lord 
Derby had received from Patagonia. 

Dr. Philippi, who lives at Santiago, says that the animal I 
figured as C. leucotis does not live in Chili, I suppose thereby 
meaning that it cannot be the Guémul of Molina; but Molina 
refers to the animal which Captain Wallis saw at the Magellan 
Straits,and Lord Derby’s specimen was received from Magellan 
Straits. 

The Earl of Derby in 1840 received an imperfect skin of a 
female in thick winter fur from his brother-in-law Admiral 
Hornby, who obtained it on the coast of Chili; but no other 
particulars were to be obtained about it. I thought it probable 
that it was another specimen of Capreolus leucotis (Cat. Mamm., 
Ungulata, p. 227); but it shows so much more white on the 
abdomen and inner side of the legs, and appears to belong to 
a smaller animal, that I now think that it is probably a spe- 
cimen of the same species that we received from Mr. Whitely, 
jun., from Tinta in the Peruvian Andes, or probably the 
winter coat of another species. 

In 1869 we received a male, female, and fawn in summer 
fur of a deer, which were collected by Mr. Whitely, jun., at 
Tinta, in South Peru. As the skin of the male showed some 
thick dark fur like the female in Lord Derby’s collection, 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Guémul.- 215 


I thought that it was probably the summer state of the 
same animal, and perhaps a smaller variety of it. I first gave 
a notice of these skins in ‘ Scientific Opinion’ for October 6, 
1869 ; and as the horns of the male showed that it was different 
from any known deer, I proposed the name Anomalocera for it ; 
but (recollecting that this name had several times been used) 
in the longer account of the deer which I gave in the ‘ Proce. Zool. 
Soe.’ 1869, pp. 496-499, with figures of the horns of the male 
and skull of female, I altered the name to Xenelaphus leucotis. 
But as it is now found that the original Capreolus leucotis from 
the Straits of Magellan is a different species with very different 
horns, and was a larger-sized animal, [ have called this, in the 
‘Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist.’ Dee. 1872, p. 445, NXenelaphus 
anomalocera. 

The animal to which the skins of the male and female now 
received from Don Enrique Simpson through Mr. Bates belong, 
and which appears to be called the Guémul in Patagonia, is 
certainly different from the animal which we received from 
Tinta, South Peru, being of a larger size, and uniform dark 
colour as much below as above, and the males having very 
different horns, which are simple, with a long subbasal frontal 
snag, indeed very like the horns of a fawn of the common stag 
(Cervus elaphus); but, like the other American deer, it has 
no gland and pencil of hair on the outside of the metatarsus ; 
and therefore I propose to describe it in the catalogues as 
Huamela leucotis. 

In Dr. Hawkesworth’s account of the voyages for making 
discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere (3 vols. 4to, 1773), 
Captain Wallis (vol. i. p. 388, Jan. 1767) says, when 
in Cordes Bay, Royal Reach, Magellan Straits, “we saw an 
animal that resembled an ass; but it had a cloven hoof, as we 
discovered afterwards by tracking it, and it was as swift as a 
deer. This was the first animal we had seen in the streight, 
except at the entrance, where we found the guanicoes, that we 
would fain have trafficked for with the Indians. We shot at 
this creature, but we could not hit it; probably it is altogether 
unknown to the naturalists of Europe.” 

Molina, in his ‘Saggio sulla storia nat. del Chile’ (Bologna, 
1782, 8vo), p. 320, speaks of the “Guémul or Huamel”’ as 
“Fauus bisulcus,” but thinks it ought to be a separate genus ; 
he quotes in a footnote a French translation of Captain Wallis’s 
observation. In the second edition of the work, published in 
quarto at Bologna in 1810, p. 262, the account of Captain 
Wallis is embodied in the text, the whole of the account of 
the animal is rather altered, and the name Lquus bisulcus is 
left out. 


216 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Guémul. 


In the first edition (p. 322) he says it lives on the less steep 
rocks of the Andes; in the second edition (p. 262), it is a rare 
wild animal which inhabits Chili. Itis seldom seen except on 
the precipices and rocks of the Cordilleras, and rarely descends 
to the lower valleys; so the hunter considers himself fortunate 
who manages to surprise one. In both editions he observes 
this is the unnamed animal which Capt. Wallis says he saw 
in passing the Straits of Magellan (p. 321). 

This account has been a fertile source of errors, and perhaps 
he confused two animals in it; but at any rate I have no 
doubt that the animal I described as Capreolus leucotis from 
Magellan Straits is the one mentioned by Captain Wallis. 

Molina himself thought the Guémul was a horse, and called 
it Hquus bisulcus, but he has left this name out in the second 
edition. It is referred to Auchenia by Col. Hamilton Smith, 
to Camelus by Leuckart and Treviranus, and made intoa genus, 
under the name of Hippocamelus, by Leuckart, and Cervequus 
by Lesson, and is mentioned as a new genus without a name 
by Gay; and MM. Gay and Gervais, in the ‘Ann. Sci. Nat.’ 
1846, p. 91, thought it was Cervus chilensis; but Dr. Philippi 
(in Wiegm. Archiv, 1870) says that Gay’s animal is the same 
as Cervus antisiensis of D’Orbigny (Voy. d. Amér. mérid. 
tom. xx.), the Furcifer antisiensis of my ‘Catalogue of Rumi- 
nant Mammalia in B. M.’ (8vo, 1872, p. 88). 

According to Gay, the Guémul is Furcifer antisiensis from 
Bolivia and Peru; this may be the Chilian animal which 
Molina confounded with the Magellan-Straits one. I thought 
it might be the Xenelaphus anomalocera, which is also a 
Peruvian animal; and now we have identified Wallis’s 
Magellan-Straits animal as Huamela leucotis. 

It is impossible to use any of the generic names given to 
Molina’s Guémul, because they all convey a false impression 
as to the relationship of the animal; one is not sure whether 
they belong to the Chilian or Patagonian genus, or, in fact, a 
combination of both. 

The Guémul or Huamel is mentioned in Viduare’s ‘Chil. 
Reiseb.’ published in Hamburg in 1782; but I have not been 
able to lay my hands on it. Is it the animal mentioned by 
Molina? 

“Guemul, q. du Chili, qui ne peut étre le Poco,” appears in 
Ray’s ‘Zoologie Universelle et Portative’ (Paris, 1787) ; but 
there is no such word as “ Poco” in his dictionary. Perhaps 
he means “ Paco,” a name which occurs under “ Lama,” 

. 300. 
: Fischer in his ‘Synopsis,’ p. 433, puts in Hquus bisuleus of 
Molina, the cloven-footed horse of Shaw’s ‘Zoology’ (ii. p. 441), 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Guémul. 217 


adding, “In inaccessis montium Andium. Num generis 
Lama?” The universal reference to the animal being an in- 
habitant of Chili misled me until I consulted the original 
work. 

HUAMELA. 


Head elongate; ears acute. Horns nearly erect, simple, 
rather converging together at the tip, with a well-developed 
subbasal anterior branch; beam tapering to a point; the front 
of the right horn is keeled ; and rather below the middle there 
is a compressed tubercle, probably indicating a branch in the 
adult state; but there is no appearance of this on the other 
horn. Fur very close, thick, formed of quills like those of the 
roebuck and the Peruvian deer. 

Skull with the intermaxillary bones broad, and extending 
up to and terminating with a truncated end on the sides of the 
nasal bones, which are broad, with parallel sides for two thirds 
their length, and truncated at the front end. Lachrymal pit 
elongate, triangular, very deep, with a rounded bottom at the 
hinder end, quite close to the front edge of the orbit. The 
horns with a well-developed rugose burr, with many irregular 
tubercles round the base. The subbasal front branches are 
placed some distance above the base, the one on the right horn 
being the smallest, and projecting straight forwards, with den- 
ticles on its surface; the branch on the left horn is much 
higher up from the base, longer, and ascending at a rather 
acute angle, and smaller at the tip. Length of the skull, from 
nose to condyles, 117 inches; width at back edge of orbits, 
which is the widest part, 51 inches. 

Lower jaw very slender, with a straight lower edge not 
more than an inch broad in the widest part, narrower in front, 
and becoming wider behind the middle, with a sinuous margin 
and a thin rounded angle. The part in front of the grinders 
much produced, about double the length of the symphysis. 

Tail short and bushy, coloured like the back above, and 
whitish beneath. The line from the anus to the groin is white, 
and the upper part of the inside of the thighs is pale; the rest 
of the underside is considerably darker than the back. The 
inside of the legs is coloured like the rest of the back, perhaps 
a little lighter; there is a well-developed pencil of rigid hair, 
which is of a dark colour. No indication of any glands on the 
outside of the legs. 

The false hoofs are surrounded with rather longer darker 
hair. The lips are blackish, with two small white spots on 
_ the upper lip, and a narrow white edge on the under one. 

To correct the synonyma, itis better to give the following 
revision of them :— 


218 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Guémul. 


Skull of male Huamela leucotis. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Guémul. 219 


Huamela leucotis. 


“ Hoofed Anintal,” Hawkesworth’s Voyages, vol. i. p. 388. 

Equus bisulcus, Molina’s Chili, p. 320, 1782 (from Hawkesworth and 
other copiers of Molina). 

Capreolus leucotis, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1849, p. 64, t. xii. (female). 

Capreolus (?) huemula, “Knowsley Menag. 

Furcifer huamel, Gray, P. Z.S. 1850, p. 236. 

Xenelaphus leucotis (part.), Gray, Cat, Ruminant Mamm. p. 89. 


Hab. Magellan Straits (Capt. Wallis, 1767; Molina, 1782; 
Lord Derby y, 1849); Patagonia (Don Enrique Simpson, 
1872). 

Male and female (Brit. Mus.). 

This animal is most likely the one mentioned by Captain 
Wallis, as (1) it inhabits the Magellan Straits; (2) it is the 
only hoofed animal on the west coast of America nearly the 
size of a donkey; (3) it was sent to the British Museum from 
Don Enrique Simpson with the name of ‘‘ Guémul” used by 
Molina. 

I have not been able to trace the origin of this name, and do 
not know if it is Patagonian or Chilian. It has been applied 
by zoologists to different animals which thay have discovered. 
Gay applies it to Purcifer antisiensis. 1, thinking that it was 
the animal mentioned by Molina, applied it to Xenelaphus, and, 
in the Knowsley Menagerie, thought it might be the animal I 
described as Capreolus leucotis, which I now think is the most 
correct determination. 

The horns are very unlike those of any other American 
deer, and are more like those of the young stag, or Cervus 
elaphus, but very distinct from it, and probably more different 
from it in the adult state, if those we have belong to a young 
animal. It is the only South-American stag that has a 
basal snag, the absence of which is a peculiarity of those 
animals. 

Probably the fur of this animal, like that of the roebuck 
kind, is formed of shorter, more slender hair in summer. 

It is not necessary to figure the animal, as the figure by 
Wolf, given in the P. Z. g (1849, p. 64, t. xii.) is very cha- 
racteristic and accurate. I observe in the description that it 
is at least three times as large as the usual Kuropean roebuck, 
is much darker, and has not the white spots extending over 
the upper part of the side of the haunches. 

The height at the shoulders of Lord Derby’s specimen is 
38 inches ; “and the length of the body is 40 inches, of the head 
12 inches, of the ears 7 inches, of the tarsus, from the false 
hoof to the hock, 124 inches. 


. 


. 


220 Mr. R. B. Sharpe on the Peregrine Falcon 


XENELAPHUS. 


Anomalocera, Gray, Scientific Opinion, 1869; Philippi, Wiegm. Archiv, 
1870, p. 46. 

Xenelaphus, Gray, P. Z. S. 1869, p. 498, fig. (horns & skull); Cat. Ru- 
minant Mamm. p. 89. 


Xenelaphus anomatocera. 


Anomalocera huamel, Gray, Scientific Opinion, 1869, p. 385. 

Xenelaphus huamel, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1869, p. 497, fig. (horns), p. 498, 

fig. (skull, female). 

Anomalocera leucotis, Philippi in Wiegm. Archiv, 1870, p. 46. 

Xenelaphus leucotis, Gray, Cat. Rumin. Mamm. p. 89. 

Hab, Peruvian Andes, Tinta (Mr. Whitely, jun.). 

Male, female, and young (Brit. Mus.). 

The adult male from Tinta is 28 inches high to the withers, 
and the body from the chest to the tail is 34 inches long. 
Length of head 10 inches, of the ears 5} inches, of the tarsus 
from the false hoof to the hock 9? inches. 


XXVI.—On the Peregrine Falcon of the Magellan Straits. 
By R. Bowpier Suarpe, F.L.S., F.Z.8., &c., Senior As- 


sistant, Zoological Department, British Museum. 


Mr. Gurney has already (Ibis, 1867, p. 465) drawn attention 
to the differences existing in the Peregrine from the Straits of 
Magellan and Chili, which he considers to be undescribed. 
He writes as follows :— South of Chili, in the southern part 
of Patagonia and about the straits of Magellan, a really 
distinct race does occur, closely allied to F. melanogenys of 
Australia, from which, indeed, it only differs in its slightly 
larger size. It is worthy of remark that the three southern 
races of Peregrine Falcons, viz. this Magellan race, to which, 
I believe, no specific name has yet been given, F. melanogenys 
of Australia, and /. minor of South Africa, all agree between 
themselves, and differ from the true F. communis in having 
much narrower spaces than occur in that bird, between the 
dark transverse abdominal bars which characterize the adult 
plumage of all these Falcons.” 

Mr. G. R. Gray considered the Magellan bird to be the 
same as Falco nigriceps of Cassin from Western North Ame- 
rica. Mr. Cassin, in describing the latter species, gives Chili 
as an additional habitat, suggesting that its range may extend 
throughout the whole of the western side of America. I am 
unable to determine by internal evidence whether Mr. Cassin 
had adults or young of the Chilian birds, on which to found 
his opinion. He could hardly have united the Magellan 


of the Magellan Straits. 221 


species if he had had adults, while he might have been easily 
misled by the rufous character of the young birds into sup- 
posing that the two birds are identical. I agree, however, 
with Mr. Gurney in supposing that the Magellan bird is a 
distinct species, being, in fact, the American representative of 
Falco melanogenys, trom which it differs not only in its 
slightly larger size, but in the less rufous plumage of the 
female; and neither male nor female has the very narrow 
closely set bars of the Australian Falcon, though they are 
more narrowly barred than the true Falco nigriceps. I 
propose, therefore, to separate the Falcon of Chili and the 
Magellan Straits as 


Falco Cassini, sp. n., 


and append a description of the bird. 

Adult. Above dark bluish ashy, everywhere transversely 
spotted or barred with*black ; bars very broad and closely set 
on the upper part of the back, further apart and more sagittate 
in shape on the lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts; a 
frontal line tinged with whitish, very indistinct ; entire head 
and hind neck, cheeks, ear-coverts, and moustachial streak 
(that is to say, the whole of the face) deep black, extending on 
to the interscapulary region; least wing-coverts blackish like 
the latter, the others coloured and barred like the back ; quills 
deep brownish black, the primaries with obsolete grey spots 
near the base, the inner secondaries uniform with the back ; 
tail bluish ashy, with black bars, which become merged 
towards the tip of the tail, so that this is conspicuously black 
for about a quarter of its length; throat itself creamy buff, 
unspotted ; fore neck and chest pale buffy fawn-colour, with 
very narrow black shaft-lines, the shade of fawn extending 
slightly on to the breast; rest of the under surface creamy 
white, with a very strong grey shade on the lower parts, 
crossed with closely set bars of black ; under wing-coverts 
buffy white, thickly crossed with black bars; the inner web 
of the quills with numerous buffy white bars, becoming 
smaller and more obsolete towards the tips of the quills ; bill 
orange at the base, inclining gradually to bluish horn-colour 
towards the tip; feet yellow, claws horn-brown. ‘Total length 
15:5 inches, culmen 1°1, wing 12, tail 7, tarsus 2. 

Female. Similar to the male, but larger, and without the 
bluish shade on the lower parts (probably not so old a bird) ; 
the head, neck, and sides of the face black. Total length 
20 inches, culmen 1°35, wing 13°5, tail 7°8, tarsus 1-9. 

Young male. Above deep blackish brown, the nape tinged 
with chestnut, all the feathers more or less distinctly margined 


222 Mr. R. B. Sharpe on the Peregrine Falcon 


with the same colour, except the upper tail-coverts and inner 
secondaries, which are tipped with buff; quills blackish, the 
inner webs half barred with clear rufous ; tail blackish, tipped 
with creamy buif, and crossed with several indistinct grey 
bars, becoming rufous on the inner web; forehead whitish, 
the feathers under the eye, fore part of the cheeks, and mous- 
tachial stripe deep black; throat creamy buff; rest of the 
under surface deep ferruginous, paler on the lower abdomen, 
all the feathers mesially streaked with a longitudinal black 
spot, much larger and more arrow-shaped, on the flank- 
feathers. Total length 16 inches, wing 12. 

Mr. Gurney, in writing to me on the subject, observes that 
he has seen two distinct Falcons from Chili, one beng my F. 
Cassini, and the other coming from the north, and called by 
Cassin F. nigriceps, but which he considers to be only F. 
communis. 1 agree with Mr. Gurney in considering that /% 
nigriceps does not go to Chili; and the migratory bird is 
therefore probably the common Peregrine, which visits South 
America, as it does India and Africa in the Old World, while 
the resident southern form is /. Cassini. 

The typical specimen of the latter is mounted in the 
national collection. 


I may add a few words as to the Peregrine Falcons and 
their geographical distribution. No two ornithologists agree 
as to whether the Peregrines of the world are to be considered 
races or subspecies of one particular form, or whether there 
are several species to be designated by different specific 
names. I incline to the latter view, as rendering the subject 
less intricate than by merging some of the very different forms 
under one name. ‘Taking, then, /. communis as the typical 
form, I would characterize the various allied Falcons as 
follows. Adult specimens of all the birds, excepting #. mnor 
(of which there is at present only a young one), are to be seen 
in the British Museum. 


1. Falco communis. (The Peregrine Falcon.) 


The whole of the Palzarctic region, migrating into India, 
to the Malay archipelago, and South Africa (more rarely). 
The entire Nearctic region, except the western coast of North 
America, where replaced by F. nigriceps. I cannot find any 
difference in the North-American Peregrine, and consider F. 
anatum to be identical with the European bird. 


2. Falco Brookit. (‘The Sardinian Peregrine Falcon.) 
Very much smaller than /. communis, with the bars on 


of the Magellan Straits. 223 


the under surface very numerous, and broader than in any 
other species. » 


Hab. Sardinia. 


3. Falco nigriceps. (The Western Peregrine Falcon.) 


Rather smaller than /. communis and darker. The young 
different; much more rufous and richly coloured. The adult 
creamy white on the breast, without a single sign of a shaft- 
stripe. 

Hab. Western side of North America from California to 
Vancouver’s Island, probably further north. 


The two birds procured in Japan, and mentioned by Mr. 
Whitely (Ibis, 1867, p. 194), are in the British Museum, and 
are unfortunately both young birds. They are of a more 
slender build than is usual with the young female Peregrine 
of Europe, and, from the strong wash of tawny buff on the 
under surface, might be*supposed to belong to alco nigriceps. 
They are not, however, quite so rufescent underneath, and the 
centres to the breast-feathers are not nearly so dark ; thus I 
at present prefer to keep them distinct from this bird, although 
it 1s by no means improbable that they may ultimately turn 
out to be the same. Latham’s Oriental Falcon coming from 
Japan, it can do no harm to keep these Japanese specimens, 
which agree well with his descriptions, under that title, until 
the arrival of an adult bird shall enable us to define the 
species accurately. The late Mr. G. R. Gray referred both 
these examples and the young Vancouver-Island specimens to 
Falco orientalis, with which he joined Falco anatum. I think, 
however, that Falco anatum is nothing but the European 
Peregrine, and the Vancouver birds are really the young of 
Falco nigriceps, which Mr. Brown identifies as the species 
found there (Ibis, 1868, p. 418). 


4, Kalco micrurus. (The Himalayan Peregrine Falcon.) 


With this bird Dr. Jerdon identifies Mr. Hume’s lately 
described Falco atriceps; and two specimens in the national 
collection belong to this species. They are closely allied to 
F. communis, but are remarkable for their very nearly obsolete 
barring underneath, and very pale coloration. 


Hab. Himalayas. 


5. Falco peregrinator. (The Indian Peregrine Falcon.) 


Blacker in all stages than any other allied species. When 
fully adult, deep rufous underneath, against which the clear 
blue of the rump and upper tail-coverts contrasts strongly. 

Hab. The whole of India; nowhere common. 


224 Bibliographical Notice. 


We now come to the three southern forms with jet-black 
hoods, viz. :— 


6. Falco melanogenys. (The Australian Peregrine Falcon.) 


A very distinct species, distinguished by its black face and 
close-set narrow barring. 

Hab. Australia northwards to Java (judging by Schlegel’s 
figure in the ‘Vogel van Nederlandsch Indié’). 


7. Falco minor. (The South-African Peregrine Falcon.) 
The smallest of all Peregrines. 
Hab. South Africa and Madagascar. 

8. Falco Cassini. (The Chilian Peregrine Falcon.) 


Allied to F. melanogenys of Australia, but differing as 
above mentioned. The young deeper rufous than in any of 
the other Falcons. 

Hab. Straits of Magellan and Chili. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE. 


Dr. Ehrenberg’s Microgeological Studies. [** Mikrogeologische Studien, 
&c.,”” Monatsbericht kon. preuss. Akad. Wissensch. Berlin fiir April 
1872, pp. 265-322: 1872.] 


Tuts is the abstract of a memoir which the veteran, and now nearly 
octogenarian, naturalist of Berlin has laid before the Academy as the 
results of his long-continued methodical researches on the microscopic 
life of the sea-bottom of all zones, especially in its relationship 
to past life and its influence on geological studies. From 1836 to 
1871 Ehrenberg has given to the world numerous descriptions and 
hundreds of good figures (all magnified 300 diameters) of microscopic 
objects, recent and fossil, the latter mainly in his ‘ Mikrogeologie’ 
(1854). However numerous the shore-sands, dredgings, and deep- 
sea soundings he has examined, yet, says he, the spots are so widely 
scattered over the map as to show how much more we have to learn 
of the sea-bed. 

The distribution of warm and cold currents is now beginning to 
be understood, he remarks; and the dispersion and relative abund- 
ance of deep-sea life, and the formation of siliceous and calcareous 
ooze and muds, are still to be more deeply studied. At all events, the 
sounding-line has never gone so deep but the microscope shows that 
nature is rich there also with life. We know not, he says, what 
forms of being, minute or gigantic, exist throughout the abyssal 
depths; and “the abundant occurrence of Peridinia in the flint of 
the deep-sea chalk, as well as the living luminous animals on 
the ocean’s surface, and even at the deep bottom off Florida, point 
to a possibly periodic, and even permanent, strong light in those 


Bibliographical Notice. 225 


depths, enabling the creatures of the abyss to have the use of their 
visual organs.” 

Dr. Ehrenberg then enumerates the organisms which he has him- 
self determined from the shallow and deep waters of oceans and 
inland seas, namely :—I. (Independent organisms) 724 Polygastrica, 
287 Polycystina, 585 Polythalamia, 22 Mollusca, 30 Pteropoda, 1 
Annulatum, 2 Entomostraca, 6 Radiata, 9 Bryozoa, 1 Anthozoum ; 
II. (Not independent, but named for convenience of recognition) 
226 Phytolitharia (including 142 Spongolitha), 50 Geolithia, 37 Zo- 
olitharia, and 23 soft parts of plants. Of living marine shelled 
animals [including Diatomacez]| thus observed, he reckons 1645; 
and of the derivative forms mentioned above under the second head- 
ing he has 336; altogether 1981. 

For the North Polar Zone he has 71 definite organisms out of the 
list, for the North Temperate 918, for the Equatorial 487, for 
the South Temperate 47, and for the South Polar Zone 24, the 
greater numbers going with the larger researches. 

In six stages of depth from 101 to 20,000 feet the calculation 
is as follows :— 

All observed 


Feet. Definite Forms, Organisms. 
101— 500 88 315 
501— 1000 72 240 

1001— 5000 141 437 
5001-10000 146 408 
10001-15000 130 344 
15001-20000 115 236 


The shallow-water forms are not here taken into consideration, as 
freshwater organisms are mixed with them by geographical accidents. 

Ehrenberg points out that the abundance of independent forms 
inhabiting the deep-sea bed is against the old notion, born of Bory 
de St. Vincent, and resuscitated of late years, that a living pulp 
pervades the sea and sinks in decay to the bottom; nor, says he, 
are the small the fry of the larger organisms. 

Prof. Ehrenberg’s researches in microscopic fossils were begun in 
1836 (with sliced flint and semiopal) and 1838 (with the Chalk), and 
are chiefly exhibited in the ‘ Mikrogeologie,’ 1854. Enumerating 
the subjects of these researches, he arrives at the following numbers : 
—independent forms, 1435; derivative fragments and parts, 172; 
altogether 1607. Adopting the following five great periods, he 
arranges his microscopic results * thus :— 


Definite All observed 

Forms. Organisms. 
CMIMUEENAIY Ss 2 it eee aida 419 652 
PMRIENY NS ets. « sue gd eee 362 807 
Pe a So a nw cc eee 292 445 
BPE co) fn 2. «xis oreo ke ff 11 
Carboniferous and Grauwacke .. 52 60 


* In relation to this table of the geological distribution of Prof. 


Ann, & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 


226 Bibliographical Notice. 


Ehrenberg finds that the notion of there being partially, or even 
altogether, different life-conditions in the superficial and the deep 
sea is weakened by his numerous observations. 

Polycystina, Actinophrys, Coccoliths, and Bathybius, besides the 
relationships of animals, and development, as treated by Darwin and 
others, are subjects also dwelt upon, in a conservative manner, in 
tre memoir of which the abstract is before us; and the author re- 
commends cautious limitation of subject, restriction of hypothesis, 
and uniformity of method, as the only foundation for good work 
among naturalists. 

The diagnoses of a great number of living genera and species of 
Polythalamia, Polygastrica, Polycystina, Spongolithides, Geolithia, 
and Zoolitharia follow (pp. 276-322). 

A review of Prof. Ehrenberg’s genera and species of Forami- 
nifera having been lately offered in the ‘Annals of Nat. Hist.’ 
(Nos. 51, 52, 57, 58, and 60, vols. ix. & x. 1872), it is convenient 
to add in this place some results from a study of the new notices 
before us. 

To the Polythalamia [Foraminifera] Prof. Ehrenberg adds, as 
genera :—1. Aspidodevia (apparently some Rotaline). 2. Bolbodium 
(possibly a Pullenia). 8and 4. Hemisterea and Hemisticta (probably 
Rotaline, of which there are several genera which have the spiral 
or upper surface porose, whilst the umbilical or lower face has an 
extra-thick glassy coat). 5. Otostomum (probably a dimorphous 
Virgulina, such as is indicated under the name Bifarina in Ann. 
Nat. Hist. Sept. 1872, p. 198). Lastly, No. 6. Pylodeaia [1859], 
which is intended to comprise the Globigerine which have the spire 
on the left and the large aperture on the right side, the true Glo- 
bigerine having these features reversed—characters which appear to 
be of little or no value. 

Of Foraminifera 90 are described as new species, chiefly from great 
depths in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, with several from the 
Agulhas Bank (at about 400 feet depth) off the Cape of Good Hope, 
and a few from the Pacific. Of “ Polygastrica,’’ 39 are diagnosed ; 
of Polycystina, 123 ; Spongolithides &c., 7. 


Ehrenberg’s Microzoa &c., we must refer to the several lists of local spe- 
cies of Foraminifera, determined according to the revised nomenclature, 
in the review of his figured fossil specimens in the ‘ Annals of Nat. Hist.’ 
Nos. 51, 52, 57, 58, and 60, vols. ix. and x. 1872; and we must add that 
in the classified list of fossil Foraminifera figured by Ehrenberg down to 
1858, in the ‘Annals of Nat. Hist.’ Dec. 1872, pp. 454-457, there are 
enumerated, besides 20 undetermined forms, only 188 species and notice- 
able varieties, most of which are living at the present day, and of which 
81 had been named by other observers. 


Royal Society. 227 


PROCEEDINGS ‘OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 


ROYAL SOCIETY. 


Dec. 19, 1872.—Sir George Biddell Airy, K.C.B., President, followed 
by Mr. Busk, Vice-President, and Dr. Sibson, Vice-President, 
in the Chair. 


“On the Organization of the Fossil Plants of the Coal-mea- 
sures. Part LV. Dictyorylon, Lyginodendron, and Heterangium.” 
By W. C. WittiaMson, F.R.S., Professor of Natural History im 
Owens College, Manchester. 


In 1866 Mr. Binney gave the name of Dadoaylon Oldhamium to 
a fossil stem of a plant from the Lower Coal-measures of Lancashire, 
believing it to belong to the same class of Gymnospermous Exogens 
as the Piites of Witham and the Dadowylon of Endlicher. In 1869 
the author pointed out that the reticulated markings upon the 
surface of its vessels were modifications of the spiral fibre of fibro- 
vascular tissue, and not the disks of what is often designated glandu- 
lar fibre. He consequently separated the plant from the Dadoxylons 
under the name of Dictyoxylon Oldhamium. At the Edinburgh 
Meeting of the British Association in 1871 he gave a brief account 
of the structure of this plant, as also of what appeared to be a second 
species from the Lower Coal-measures of Burntisland in Fifeshire, 
which he called D. Grievii, after its discoverer, D. Grieve, Esq. A 
detailed exposition of the organization of these two plants is given 
in the memoir. 

Dictyoxylon Oldhamium.—This was a stem composed of the three 
divisions of pith, wood, and bark. The pith consisted of regular 
parenchyma without divisions or cavities of any kind. In very 
young plants it was surrounded by an irregular ring or medul- 
lary cylinder of reticulated vessels, not arranged in radiating lamine. 
This cylinder broke up at an early period into several detached 
vascular bundles, which, as the stem enlarged, became widely 
separated from each other, the intervening space being occupied by 
medullary parenchyma. But before this change was completed, 
the true ligneous zone appeared as a thin ring of vessels arranged 
in radiating vertical laming, separated from each other by large and 
conspicuous medullary rays, composed of mural cellular tissue. 
Additions were made to the exterior surface of this zone by the 
agency of a delicate cellular layer of cells, which constituted the 
innermost layer of the bark. These additions demonstrate their 
exogenous nature in several specimens in which the vessels of the 
outermost zone have not attained to half their normal size, resembling 
in this respect some of the Lepidodendroid plants described in the 
author’s last memoir (Part I11.). Through these successive ex- 
ogenous growths the vascular axis of the stem ultimately became 
arborescent. One specimen is described in which such a vascular 
axis, though imperfect and waterworn, is fully six inches in dia- 
meter, independent of the bark ; other specimens have been ob- 


15* 


228 Royal Society :— 


tained intermediate in size between the above example and the 
small stems more usually met with. The vascular lamine increased 
in thickness as they proceeded from within outwards, and then 
subdivided, in the ordinary exogenous manner, through the inter- 
calation of new medullary rays. ‘These rays are remarkable for the 
great vertical range of each one, as well as for the large number of 
cells which enter into their composition. In tangential sections 
they appear as elongated lenticular masses of parenchyma. 

The Bark.—This organ is separable into three, if not four layers. 
The innermost one is a delicate parenchyma closely investing the 
ligneous zone, its cells beg continuous with those of the medullary 
rays. Atits outer surface this tissue passes gradually into another 

arenchymatous layer of greater thickness than the mner one. 
Both of them have patches of dark-coloured cells scattered through 
their tissues. But the most remarkable part of the bark is the 
third or prosenchymatous layer, which presents very different 
features according to the aspect in which it is regarded. In the 
transverse section it consists of radiating bands of parenchyma 
alternating with narrower and very dark-coloured ones of woody 
prosenchyma, the latter looking very like the Roman numerals upon 
the face of a clock. Tangential sections show that the black bands 
are fibrous lamine, which pursue an undulatory course as they 
ascend through the stem, and which, as they alternately approach 
and recede from one another, divide this part of the bark ito a 
series of lenticular or rhomboidal areas, occupied by various forms 
of parenchyma. No vascular bundles enter these areole ; hence 
they are something altogether different from the leaf-scars of the 
Le ‘pidodendra. Externally to this prosenchymatous layer some 
specimens exhibit detac shed traces of a very thin external layer of 
parenchyma, apparently derived from the cells of the rhomboidal 
areole, which have extended beyond the fibrous laminz and spread 
themselves over the surface of the bark as a continuous layer ; 
but this condition appears to be confined to very young stems. 

Vascular bundles of large size ascend vertically through the two 
inner parenchymatous layers of the bark. In some instances 
each of these bundles exhibits, in the transverse section, an oval 
outline, with faint traces of a vertical division mto two parts. But 
ordinarily the two halves of the bundle have separated, forming two 
distinct bundles, which are some distance apart. They exhibit little 
or no tendency to diverge from the ligneous cylinder as they ascend, 
and in some instances actually become incorporated with it. It 
is remarkable that the position of each of these double bundles, 
at the exterior of the ligneous zone, corresponds with the spaces 
intervening between the det ached masses of the medullary cylinder 
within it, as if the former were designed to act as buttresses 
strengthening these weaker points in the vascular axis. It not 
unfrequently happens that exogenous additions are made to such 
of these bundles as are encompassed by the innermost layer of 
the bark, in the shape of a few radiating lamine of vessels developed 
on their outer or peripheral surfaces. 


On the Fossil Plants of the Coal-measures. 229 


One specimen of the vascular axis is, as already mentioned, so 
large as to demonstrate that the plant became arborescent. 

Though Dictyoaylon was not a dichotomizing plant, like Lepido- 
dendron, it gave otf lateral bundles of vessels. Some of these are 
simple bundles, consisting of numerous vessels intermingled with 
some cellular tissue. Others have this central bundle invested by 
a thin ring of radiating lamin with intervening medullary rays ; 
this exogenous ring sometimes becomes developed into a relatively 
large and distinct woody zone, like that of the parent axis. The 
vessels of these lateral growths appear to be wholly derived from 
the radiating woody zone. 

A second form of lateral appendage appears to spring from the 
medullary rays, and consists of a cylindrical mass of reticulated 
cells, which are chiefly prosenchymatous, but of an elongated type. 
It is suggested that this structure may have been prolonged into an 
adventitious root. 

The structure of the central or medullary vascular axis of the 
former of these two kinds of lateral appendages seems to indicate 
that the history of the development of the medullary vascular cylin- 
der in these plants corresponds with what the author described 
in his preceding memoir (Part III.) as taking place im the similar 
parts of the Lepidodendra, viz. that some of the cells of the central 
part of the axis underwent rapid fission, and thus developed a di- 
stinct cellular medulla, which torced the medullary vessels outwards 
where at first they constituted a ring, but which ring soon broke 
up into the detached vascular masses already referred to as adhering 
to the inner surface of the exogenous zones. 

The enlargement of the exogenous woody cylinder by the peri- 
pheral intercalation of new radiating vascular lamine, and the 
repeated subdivision of these lamin by a corresponding intercala- 
tion of new medullary rays, demonstrates the close resemblance 
between the growth of the ligneous zone in these plants and that 
of ordinary exogenous stems. A fine series of specimens collected 
by the Rev. H. Higgins, of Rainhill, near Liverpool, and which 
exhibit various modifications of the type figured by the late Mr. 
Gourlie under the name of Lyginodendron Landsburghit, are shown 
to be merely casts of the exterior surface of the bark of some species 
of Dictyorylon. They may actually belong to D. Oldhamium; but 
this is not yet proven. 

Dictyoxylon Grievii—This plant has many points of affinity 
with D. Oldhamium ; nevertheless it has very distinct features of 
its own. Its central or medullary axis is very large in proportion 
to the thickness of its exogenous ring; the former consists of 
cellular parenchyma, throughout which are scattered numerous 
bundles of exquisitely reticulated vessels unprovided with any 
special sheaths. The largest vessels are nearest the centre of the 
axis, the peripheral ones hecoming smaller, more numerous, and 
grouped in more continuous masses. Immediately surrounding 
this vasculo-cellular axis is a thin ring of similar vessels, but 
arranged in radiating laminz, separated by well-defined medullary 


230 Royal Society. 


rays. This zone is generally of unequal thickness on opposite sides 
of the plant, and contains some barred vessels amongst its re- 
ticulated ones; the medullary rays are composed of mural cells. 

The bark consists of three very distinct layers. The imnermost 
one is very thin, consisting of delicate parenchyma, but which 
nevertheless has formed a very clearly defined flexible layer; 
outside this is a thick stratum of coarser but regular parenchyma 
subdivided in the transverse section into vaguely defined areas by 
thick wavy lines of condensed cells. The peripheral outline of 
this zone is very irregular, frequently projecting outwards in large 
angular masses. It is bounded by a prosenchymatous external 
layer, which is a dwarfed representative of the corresponding one 
of D. Oldhamium. In the transverse section it exhibits dark radiating 
bands of fibres, longitudinally disposed, alternating with similar 
bands of parenchyma; but it differs from D. Oldhamium in the 
narrowness of the latter, and consequently in the more linear form 
of the cellular areole of the outer bark. In longitudinal sections 
of the bark its innermost layer appears as in transverse ones. 
The middle parenchyma, on the other hand, exhibits remarkable 
differences from its aspect in the transverse section: its cells are 
arranged in vertical columns ; but these are intersected at intervals 
of nearly +, of an inch by ‘horizontal and parallel bands of very 
dark-coloured cells of a special nature. 

Seven or eight large vasculo-cellular bundles exist in each trans- 
verse section of the bark. Some of these are located within the 
exogenous layer of the wood, being obviously detached portions of 
the cells and vessels of the medullary axis; others occur, in various 
specimens, at every point between the wood and the outer bark. 
The author finds that these bundles remained for a time in the 
immediate neighbourhood of the innermost bark, but that they suc- 
cessively became detached and moved more rapidly outwards, until 
each one emerged at the periphery of the bark in one of the 
prominent angles of the latter, already referred to ; when one bundle 
has thus reached the periphery, another begins to follow the same 
centrifugal course. The inference is, that these are foliar bundles, 
supplying large leaves or petioles, sparsely grouped round the stem. 

single example of a similar centrifugal bundle was found in 
D. Oldhamium. The seemingly irregular projections of the bark of 
D. Grievii thus appear to represent angular petioles, and are not the 
result of merely accidental pressures. A second kind of cylindrical 
bundle is noticed, consisting of reticulated prosenchymatous cells. 
It is connected at its central extremity with the medullar 
parenchyma, whilst its peripheral end passes outwards through the 
bark. It appears to have had the same character as the similar 
one of D. Oldhamium, having probably been an adventitious root- 
bundle. 

Somewhat triangular twigs or petioles of the above plant are 
numerous. They consist of a single vascular bundle, located ex- 
centrically near the cordate base of the triangular transverse section, 
and surrounded by the three bark-layers seen in the older stems. 


Miscellaneous. 231 


The structure of these layers, as seen in the longitudinal sections, 
is identical with, though less complex than, that of the matured 
stems ; but no cortig¢al vascular bundles are seen in them. 

Having identified his Dictyoaylon Oldhamium with the older genus 
Lyginodendron, the author abandons his own generic name, and 
proposes that the plant shall henceforth be designated Lyginodendron 
Oldhamium. He establishes in the same way the generic identity 
of Dictyoxylon Grievit with the Heterangium of Corda; hence that 
plant must now take the name of Heterangium Grievii. Whilst 
having no doubt that the above were two Cryptogamic plants, it 
appears impossible for the present to determine to what class of 
Cryptogams they belong. Many of their features indicate Lycopo- 
diaceous affinities ; but this point can scarcely be determined until 
the actual fronds are discovered. This has not yet been done. 
The Lyginodendron is from the horizon of the Ganister beds of 
Lancashire and Yorkshire; the Burntisland deposit belongs to the 
middle portion of the calciferous sandstones of the Burdiehouse 
Carboniferous strata. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 
On Whales in the Indian Ocean. By H. J. Carrer, F.R.S. &e. 
(In a letter to Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S.) 


I wave been much interested in the perusal of your paper in the 
‘Annals’ for February “On the Geographical Distribution &e. of 
Whales and Dolphins;” and, with reference to Captain Maury’s 
observation that the sperm-whales inhabit a belt of sea in or on 
each side of the tropics, would communicate to you the following 
facts, which, if not already known to you, will, I am sure, be 
acceptable. 

Within twelve years, while I was at Bombay, the mutilated car- 
casses of two, dead whales drifted on shore there. One I went to 
see: it was an ernormous mass, and supposed to have belonged 
to a whale 80 feet long. The bodies of the vertebre were as large, 
I think, as the bodies of any whale-vertebre that I ever saw. Not 
being interested in any further detail, and the stench of the putrid 
blubber being so great that it was full a month before it left my 
shoes, I went no further than to witness the sight. 

It is very common for whaies to be seen off the coast of Khat- 
tyawar, a little north of Bombay, but still in the tropics, by those 
who are making the voyage between Bombay and Kurrachee, in 
Sind. And if at Bombay, within the space of twelve years, two 
dead whales drift in, it may be assumed that such must occur at 
many other places on this coast, and therefore that the number of 
dead whales which thus become stranded must be considerable. 

While on the survey of the south-east coast of Arabia (that is, 
the northern boundary to the Indian Ocean), for two years we never 


232 Miscellaneous. 


saw a whale; but in the Bay of Miskat one used to come in every 
day in the afternoon, plough his way among the boats and vessels 
there, and then go out again. He appeared to me to be about 20 
or 30 feet long; and when I pointed him out to the officers of the 
vessel, they said ‘that is ‘Muscat Tom;’ he pays a visit to the 
bay every day, and has been known to do so from time immemorial.” 
We saw schools of porpoises, sometimes perhaps two miles long, on 
the south-east coast; and one of the perquisites of the Shaykh of 
Raidah, a town on the coast about sixty miles north-east of Makalla, 
is the unborn young of the porpoise when a female is caught in this 
condition. Once, also, when we were sailing down the coast, in a 
stiff breeze, towards Aden, two or more “ blackfish,” as the sailors 
called them, accompanied us for twenty-four hours, keeping close 
to the side of the vessel and sporting round her. They appeared 
to me to be about 12 feet long. 

But, if we did not happen to see any whales on this coast, we 
heard that the fishermen (who go to the most unfrequented parts 
yearly to catch small and large shark, the former to salt-in for pro- 
vision, which is a staple commodity on this coast, and the latter for 
their fins for the China market) often pick up portions of ambergris, 
which, I think, at Maskat, sells for more than its weight in gold, 
chiefly for its fancied aphrodisiacal power. 

One day, one of these fishermen came alongside our vessel, and 
handed me in, through my scuttle, a piece half as big as my head., 
It was formed of concentric layers like cholesterine, in which were 
imbedded an innumerable quantity of cuttlefish-beaks. Of course, 
I only regarded it in a scientific point of view; and, fancing that 
it was analogous to the ‘ hair-ball ” in the ox’s stomach (the horny 
beaks of the cuttlefish forming the ingesta), I took a little bit as a 
specimen, gave the man a dollar, and told him to take the rest to 
the Maskat market. 

On another occasion, while fishing in the jolly-boat with a mid- 
shipman and one of our Beni-Bo-Ali pilots in the channel between 
the mainland of Arabia and the island of Masira, we saw some large 
fish biting at something on the surface of the water, when, to our 
astonishment, the Beni-Bo-Ali pilot leapt over and, swimming up to 
it, laid hold of it and brought it on board, when it turned out to be 
a dead cuttlefish. Our pilot said, “Ah! I thought it had been a 
piece of ambergris Which the sharks were eating; for they are very 
fond of it, and it is often found under such circumstances.” 

All this goes to prove that there are many whales in this part 
of the Indian Ocean just within the tropics, and that they are the 
sperm-whale. Of course they cannot get very far out of the tropics 
to the north without getting into the land-locked waters of the Red 
Sea and Persian Gulf respectively. 

I know that Cephalopoda abound on this coast, and that American 
whalers used to capture the sperm-whale there; for our captain had 
saved the crew of an American whaler there which had become in- 
jured, and took them all up to Maskat. 


Miscellaneous. giao 


On a.new Subclass of Fossil Birds (Odontornithes). 
By O. C. Mars. 


The remarkable extinct birds with biconcave vertebre (Ichthyor- 
nid), recently described by the writer from the upper Cretaceous shale 
of Kansas *, prove on further investigation to possess some additional 
characters, which separate them still more widely from all known 
recent and fossil forms. The type species of this group, Zchthyornis 
dispar, Marsh, had well-developed teeth in both jaws. These teeth 
were quite numerous and implanted in distinct sockets; they were 
small, compressed, and pointed, and all of those preserved are similar. 
Those in the lower jaws number about twenty in each ramus, and are 
all more or less inclined backward. The series extends over the entire 
upper margin of the dentary bone, the front tooth being very near the 
extremity. The maxillary teeth appear to have been equally nume- 
rous, and essentially the same as those in the mandible. 

The skull was of moderate size, and the eyes were placed well 
forward. The lower jaws are long and slender, and the rami were 
not closely united at the symphysis; they are abruptly truncated 
just behind the articulation for the quadrate. This extremity, and 
especially its articulation, is very similar to that in some recent 
aquatic birds. The jaws were apparently not encased in a horny 
sheath. 

The scapular arch, and the bones of the wings and legs, all conform 
closely to the true ornithic type. The sternum has a prominent 
keel, and elongated grooves for the expanded coracoids. The wings 
were large in proportion to the legs; and the humerus had an extended 
radial crest. The metacarpals are united, as in ordinary birds. The 
bones of the posterior extremities resemble those in swimming birds. 
The vertebrze were all biconcave, the concavities at each end of the 
centra being distinct and nearly alike. Whether the tail was elon- 
gated cannot at present be determined ; but the last vertebra of the 
sacrum was unusually large. 

This bird was fully adult, and about as large as a pigeon. With 
the exception of the skull, the bones do not appear to have been 
pneumatic, although most of them are hollow. The species was 
carnivorous, and probably aquatic. 

When the remains of this species were first described, the portions 
of lower jaws found with them were regarded by the writer as repti- 
lant; the possibility of their forming part df the same skeleton, 
although considered at the time, was not deemed sufficiently strong 
to be placed on record. On subsequently removing the surrounding 
shale, the skull and additional portions of both jaws were brought to 
light, so that there cannot now be a reasonable doubt that all are 
parts of the same bird. The possession of teeth and biconcave ver- 
tebre, although the rest of the skeleton is entirely avian in type, 
obviously implies that these remains cannot be placed in the present 


* Amer. Journ. of Sci. and Arts, vol. iv. p. 544, Oct. 1872, and vol. v. 
p. 74, Jan. 1873. ‘Annals,’ Jan. 1873, p. 80. 
t+ Amer. Journ. of Sci. and Arts, vol. iv. p. 406, Noy. 1872. 


234 Miscellaneous. 


groups of birds ; and hence a new subclass, Odontornithes, is proposed 
for them. The order may be called Ichthyornithes. ” 

The species lately described by the writer as Jchthyornis celer 
also had biconcave vertebree and probably teeth. It proves to be 
generically distinct from the type species of this group, and hence 
may be named Apatornis celer, Marsh. It was about the same size 
as Ichthyornis dispar, but of more slender proportions. The geolo- 
gical horizon of both species was essentially the same. The only re- 
mains of them at present known are in the museum of Yale College. 

The fortunate discovery of these interesting fossils is an important 
gain to paleontology, and does much to break down the old distinc- 
tions between Birds and Reptiles, which the Archzopteryx has so 
materially diminished. Itis quite probable that that bird, likewise, 
had teeth and biconcave vertebrae, with its free metacarpals and 
elongated tail—Amer. Journ. of Science and Arts, vol. v., Feb. 1873, 


On two new Free Sponges from Singapore. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


Dr. A. B. Meyer has sent to the British Museum five specimens of 
free sponges (four of them belonging to one species, and the 
other to a separate one), which I believe were obtained in the neigh- 
bourhood of Singapore. 

The one is very like Zetilla polyura of O. Schmidt (‘ Spongien- 
fauna des atlantischen Meeres,’ t. vi. f. 8), which is the type of my 
genus Lophiurella, but differs from it in several particulars ; and the 
other is a form which has not hitherto occurred to me. 

It has been thought that these free sponges are only the young 
and free state of sponges which become attached in their older state ; 
but this theory wants further confirmation. Tetilla polyura of 
Schmidt might be young, as it is only 3 inch long ; but the specimens 
from Singapore are more than 2 inches in diameter and length. 

The four specimens, which I have called Psetalia globulosa, exhibit 
four different states of growth, the sponge being considerably 
modified in its general form as it enlarges. 

The youngest specimen, about + inch in diameter, is half-oblong, 
with a few conical projections on the lower part, each ending in a 
tuft of spicules, and with a flattened upper surface having a small 
central opening leading to the inner surface. 

In a larger specimen, about 13 inch in diameter, the conical pro- 
minences on the under surface, each ending in a tuft of elongate 
spicules, are more numerous, and the upper surface is produced, 
conical, and endingin a much larger central opening. 

In the largest specimen, about 23 inches in diameter, the sponge 
is irregularly conical below, the surface being covered with distinct, 
rather prominent, tubercles, each containing a tuft of elongate 
filamentous spicules, ending below, as in the other specimens, in 
three or more recurved anchoring spines. The upper surface is 
deeply concave, with only a broad convex margin, incurved, edging 
the concavity. This, like that of the interior of the other specimens, 


Miscellaneous. 235 


has a series of rounded oscules, that are small near the margin and 
gradually increase in size as they approach the centre, where the 
oscules become united into two very large oblong rather sinuous 
holes. The outer surface of this sponge exhibits a quantity of small 
circular holes interspersed among the tubercles which bear the bunches 
of spicules. 

The other sponge I have named Labaria hemispherica, It is 
hemispherical, about 2 inches in diameter, and rather more than 1 
inch high, with a rather smooth outer surface and a rather deep 
regular concavity on the upper surface, which seems formed of 
interlacing spicules, leaving considerable spaces between them. 
The outer surface and its margin are scattered with distant, but 
rather regularly placed, cylindrical perforations, from the centre of 
which are emitted tufts of elongated filiform spicules, diverging in 
all directions from the surface of the sponge. The middle of the 
underside deeply concave, with a well-defined edge, from which is 
emitted a very large tuft of very numerous crowded spicules, form- 
ing a kind of brush, each filament when perfect ending in three 
short recurved spines. 

Mr. Carter will give ‘a further account of these sponges, with 
descriptions of the spicules of which they are formed, in his account 
of the sponges in the British Museum. 


On the * Capreolus” of Zonites algirus. By E. Dusrevit. 


In our anatomical and historical investigation of the generative 
apparatus of the Helices, we have noticed the presence of a sperma- 
tophore in Zonites algirus, and described the capreolus of that species, 
which had not been indicated by any malacologist. 

This body, 26 millims. in length and 1 millim. in breadth at its 
most inflated portion, is of a tubular form, diminishing in size on 
both sides from its inferior third. It is a complete canal, furnished 
with numerous spiral channels. A transverse section made about 
its middle has the aspect of a cogged wheel furnished with from 
twelve to fourteen little teeth. Its superior extremity terminates in 
a tube with a capillary aperture, where the lamelle disappear ; whilst 
the other, where they are more distinct, is shorter and presents a 
wider orifice. It is covered with an albuminoid membrane. 

When the introduction of the capreolus is completed, its inferior 
extremity, curving into the arc of a circle, inserts itself for three, 
four, or five millimetres into the neck of the oviduct, which, in this 
species, is destitute of a transverse muscle. This extremity is 
enveloped by a whitish viscous matter, which escapes from the 
interior of the spermatophore, and contains an infinity of sperma- 
tozoids. The issue of these from the interior of this appendage is 
due to the action of the muscular membrane of the copulatory canal. 

A part of the inferior deferent duct is destined to the production 
of the capreolus. This duct, which measures 50 millims. in extent, 
has not the same volume throughout its length. From its point of 
junction with the deferent channel for a distance of 31 millims. its 
diameter is 3 or at most 3 millim., whilst in the second half of its 


236 Miscellaneous. 


course, which terminates at the penis, it is } or sometimes 4 millim. 
The narrow portion of the duct is pellucid; the dilated portion, of 
an opaque white, is composed of the same layers which are met with 
in the flagellum of the Helices. Beneath an external cellular mem- 
brane we find a muscular membrane, followed m its turn by a 
glandular layer, which does not exist in the narrow part of the duct. 

In the wide portion of the same organ we observe numerous lamellee 
arranged like the spiral fibre of the traches of plants. ‘These lamellee 
extend in an oblique spiral between the two margins of this portion of 
the canal, their obliquity increasing towards the point of junction of 
the two portions of the latter, in the neighbourhood of which they 
finally become longitudinal. At the breeding-time they are covered 
with solid white particles, which effervesce with hydrochloric acid. 

In its movement of retroversion the penis is followed by the 
inferior deferent canal, which contains the capreolus until the 
moment when this body is expelled.—Comptes Rendus, November 4, 
1872, tome Ixxv. pp. 1126, 1127. 


On the Developmental History of Petromyzon. By A. ScHNEIDER. 


Since August Miiller published his fine discovery of the transforma- 
tion of Ammocetes into Pteromyzon (Miiller’s Archiv, 1856; see also 
Ann. & Mag. N. H. ser. 2, vol. xviii. p. 298), every zoologist must 
certainly have been desirous of witnessing this wonderful metamor- 
phosis. Here in Giessen the opportunity seemed to offer itself to me ; 
for, in the Bieberbach, Ammocetes branchialis occurs in such abun- 
dance that in the course of two years I obtained about two hundred 
Ammoceetes and a dozen of Petromyzon Planert. But I never obtained 
the transition-stages, nor could I succeed in getting full-grown speci- 
mens of Ammocetes to undergo any further development in tanks. I 
must therefore acknowledge with thanks that Prof. von Siebold had 
the kindness to give me two specimens of the transition-stage which 
were in his possession. As I was sufficiently familiar with the strue- 
ture of Ammocetes and Petromyzon, these sufficed to give me an in- 
sight into some of the most important processes. 

On the ventral surface of the Ammocetes there is an elongate-oval 
organ, already mentioned by Rathke, which was regarded by A. 
Miiller as the rudiment of the tongue, but the structure of which 
has hitherto remained entirely unknown. It is a gland which opens 
into the cesophagus in the ventral line between the third and fourth 
branchial clefts. Its structure differs from that of all other known 
glands. ‘The orifice leads into two tubes lying close to one another, 
and which extend forward to the end of the branchio-cesophageal 
cavity, and backward to the boundary between the fifth and sixth 
branchial clefts. Just at the orifice another tube branches off on 
each side, passes a short distance backward, and then, bending up- 
ward and forward, reaches the vicinity of the orifice of the gland, 
then again bends downward and backward, and again downward 
and forward, so that it describes about 14 spiral convolution. In 
the part situated in front of the orifice of the gland, there are on 
each side four cords consisting of nucleated cells. The cells are cu- 


Miscellaneous. 237 


neiform, with a polyhedral transverse section; they stand with their 
bases at the surface of the cord; and all converge towards a longitu- 
dinal central surface. The whole mass appears as if finely striated ; 
but the striation d6es not seem to be due to fibrille, but only to the 
edges of the rather thin cells. 

These four cords are united by vascular connective tissue into a 
thick compact cord, which, lying upon the tube, projects into its 
lumen. ‘The inner surface of the tube, including the compact cord, 
is covered by a ciliated epithelium. The four distinct cords lie at the 
surface of the compact cord something like four cylinders which are 
enveloped by a larger cylinder touching them. At the line of con- 
tact the ciliated cells are deficient, and the subjacent glandular sub- 
stance appears freely towards the lumen of the tube. These places 
are also those towards which the cells converge. Of the four cords, two 
run into the portion of the tube which extends directly backward, 
whilst two pass into the spirally convoluted part and follow its con- 
volutions. In other respects the structure in the hinder part is 
exactly as in the anterior part. No trace of a neutral fluid is to be 
found in the gland. 

From this gland the fongue certainly does not originate, as has 
been concluded from its position, but during the metamorphosis the 
striated cell-substance disappears. The connective tissue and the 
epithelial lining of the tubes remain; the latter separates from the 
wall, and in part remains tubular, but in part constricts itself into 
balls. In short, there is produced from it an organ which, both in 
position and structure, agrees with the thyroid glands of the deve- 
loped vertebrate. The organ described as the thyroid gland in 
Petromyzon by Wilhelm Miller (Jenaische Zeitschr. vi. p. 433), I 
cannot regard as the same, either in structure or position. I have 
found the true thyroid gland both in P. Planert and P. fluviatilis ; 
and it will certainly not be deficient in the other species. In Am- 
moccetes consequently we find for the first time, and hitherto alone 
among all Vertebrata, the thyroid gland in function during a long 
period of life and in a high state of development. 

The branchial clefts in Ammocetes, as is well known, open into 
the cesophagus—but in Petromyzon into a free tube, closed posteriorly, 
the bronchus, above which there is an cesophagus which unites the 
intestinal canal with the buccal cavity. From the mere comparison of 
Ammocetes and Petromyzon we cannot see how the new state is 
produced from the old one. This takes place as follows :—The ceso- 
phagus is formed in the dorsal median line of the branchial cavity 
as a solid cord, consisting of round, closely approximated nuclei, only 
separated by a little interstitial substance ; and into this a cavity 
penetrates from the front and gradually renders it permeable. At the 
same time an increase of the blood-vessels commences in the connec- 
tive tissue which surrounds the branchial cavity and the cesophagus, 
The vessels finally coalesce, so that both the bronchus and the ceso- 
phagus lie free in a great blood-space, extending from the so-called 
pericardium to the point of the head. In this are also situated the 
branchial artery, the tongue, and the branchie themselves. 


238 Miscellaneous. 


The above-mentioned foundation of the cesophagus is not indicated 
at allin Ammocetes. It must not be confounded with the fold which 
hangs down from the dorsal median line into the branchial cavity 
of Ammocetes. 

One of the first processes of the metamorphosis must be the forma- 
tion of the tongue; in both my specimens it was already formed, 
whilst the cesophagus was only permeable for a few millimetres, and 
the mouth still possessed the narrow opening figured by Von Siebold 
(Siisswasserfische von Mitteleuropa, p. 381).—Oberhessischen Ge- 
sellsch. fiir Natur- und Heilkunde, January 11, 1873. 


On the Parasites of the Cetaceans of the N.W. Coast of America, with 
Descriptions of New Forms. By W. H. Dax, U.S. Coast Survey. 


Among the parasites most widely known as infesting the Cetacea, 
two classes may be recognized, viz. those which are ‘true parasites, 
deriving their subsistence from the animal upon which they are 
found, such as the Pycnogonoids and Cyamz; and those which are 
merely sessile upon the animal, and derive no nourishment or other 
benefit from it which might not equally well be furnished by an 
inanimate object, such as the various Cirripedes. 

No Pyenogonoids have yet been reported from the Cetacea of this 
coast. Brief descriptions of the species of Cyamus found upon the 
California grey, the humpback, and the Arctic bowhead whales 
were submitted by me to the Academy at a recent meeting. I may 
here add to those descriptions a few facts since obtained, and bearing 
upon the species described. I have, through the courtesy of Capt. 
Scammon, been able to examine a large number of Cyamz obtained at 
Monterey, Cal., from the humpback (Megaptera versabilis, Cope). 
They are all of the same species as that (C. suffusus) described by me 
as parasitic upon that whale—a fact which tends to confirm the hypo- 
thesis that each species of whale has its own peculiar parasites, and 
that there is rarely more than one species of Cyamus found upon one 
animal. The females, which were unknown at the date of my descrip- 
tion, now prove to resemble the male in every respect, except in re- 
gard to the sexual organs, and in being a trifle more slender in form. 

Among the Cirripedes, Tubicinella has not been reported from 
these waters, nor is the Chelonobia known to have been obtained 
from any of the whales of this coast. The genera known from the 
north Pacific waters are Coronula, an allied form which I believe to 
be uncharacterized, and Otion or a closely allied form. 


SESSILIA, 
Coronuta, Lam. 
~ Coronula, Lamk. An. s. Vert. v. p. 387. 


Coronula balenaris, Linn. sp.; Lamk. Ann. du Mus. i. p. 468, 
pl. 30. figs. 2-4. 
This species, or one very closely allied to it, was obtained by the 
late Mr. Bridges, probably from the coast of Central America; but 
the identification of the exact locality and the species of cetacean 


Miscellaneous. 239 


from which it was obtained was prevented by the premature and 
lamented decease of that energetic field naturalist. 


» Coronula diadema?, Lamk. 


It is quite possible that the species here indicated under the above 
name may be distinct from the true Atlantic diadema; but materials 
for exact comparison are wanting, and the figures given by Reeve 
and others very closely resemble the form before me. The radiating 
ridges are six in each group, often slightly bifurcated at their bases, 
and strongly sculptured with transverse, fluctuating, slightly elevated 
beaded lines. The interspaces are sharply transversely grooved. 
The superior membranous surface is brown, the pallium or hood 
surrounding the cirri is slightly purplish. The scuta are subtrian- 
gulate, with the posterior prolongation longest, slightly keeled above, 
with sharply pointed adjacent umbones at the anterior angle of the 
occludent margin. No vestiges of the terga are present. Adult 
specimens are over two inches in diameter at the base. In sucha spe- 
cimen the dimensions of the scuta are as follows :—length of occludent 
margin ‘215 in., posterior margin (slightly arcuated) 28 in., anterior 
margin ‘175 in. Colourof scuta white; concave below, stout, solid. 
This species has been obtained from the humpback whale (J. versa- 
bilis) from Behring Strait to the Gulf of California, and may also be 
found on other species. It is especially abundant on the flippers and 
on the under lip of these animals, 


CrYPTOLEPAS, Nl. g. 


Scuta and terga both present, minute ; valves six ; externally pro- 
duced below the surface of the whale’s skin in thin radiating lamine, 
with their planes perpendicular to the vertical axis of the animal, 
and bifurcating and enlarged toward their distal edges. Parasitic on 
Cetacea. 

Type Cryptolepas rhachianectis, Dall, n. sp. 

Valves subequal, rostrum radiate, not alate. Lateral valves ante- 
riorly alate, posteriorly radiate ; carina alate, not radiate. Lach valve 
internally transversely deeply grooved, and furnished externally with 
six radiating laminee vertically sharply grooved, the adjacent ter- 
minal laminz of each two valves coalescing to form one lamina of 
extra thickness; all the lamine bifureated and thickened toward 
their outer edges, with two or more short spurs on each side, irregu- 
larly placed between the shell-wall and the bifurcation. Superior 
terminations of the valves (bluntly pointed ?) usually abraded, trans= 
versely striate. Scuta subquadrate, adjacent anteriorly, very slightly 
beaked in the middle of the occludent margin; terga subquadrate, 
small, separated from the scuta by intervening membrane ; both very 
small in proportion to the orifice. Membranes very thin and deli- 
cate, raised into small lamelle between the opercular valves. All 
the calcareous matter pulverulent, and showing a strong tendency to 
split up into lamine. Antero-posterior diameter of large specimen 
1-62 in., ditto of orifice -63 in. ; transverse diameter of orifice -58 in. ; 
length of scuta ‘17 in., breadth -08 in. ; length of terga:07 in., breadth 


240 Miscellaneous. 


‘O07 in. Colour of membranes, when living, sulphur-yellow ; hood 
extremely protrusile. 

This species is found sessile on the California grey whale (iha- 
chianectes glaucus, Cope). I have observed them on specimens of 
that species hauled up on the beach at Monterey for cutting off the 
blubber, in the bay-whaling of that locality. The superior surface 
of the lateral lamine being covered by the black skin of the whale, 
was not visible; and the animal, removed from its native element, 
protruding its bright yellow hood in every direction to a surprising 
distance, as 1f gasping for breath, presented a truly singular appear- 
ance. 

PEDUNCULATA. 
Orton, Leach. 


Otion, Leach, Encycl. Britannica, suppl. vol. iii. p. 170. 


Otion Stimpsoni, Dall, n. sp. 

Scuta only present, beaked, with the umbones on the occludent 
margins ; anterior prolongation the longer, pointed, rather slender ; 
posterior prolongation rounded, wider; external margin concave. 
Colour (in spirits) ight orange with a dark purple streak on the 
rostral surface and on each side of the peduncle, while the lateral 
surfaces of the body-case and lobes are mottled with dark purple. 
The lower lip of the orifice is transversely striated and translucent, 
the upper margins, slightly reflexed internally, white ; in some spe- 
cimens with two prolongations or small lobes above, which are wanting 
in other specimens. The tubular prolongations very irregular and 
variable in size and form, usually unsymmetrical; one sometimes 
nearly abortive. Length of peduncle 2:8 in., of body 2°16 in., of lobes 
2-0 in., of orifice 1:18 in., of scuta -55 in.; width of scuta -16 in. 

Hab. On the “ humpback” (1. versabilis), sessile on the Coronule 
which infest that species, but never, so far as I have observed, on the 
surface of the whale itself. 

Dr. Leach describes five calcareous pieces, namely the scuta, terga, 
and rostrum, in the typical species (O. Cuvieri, Leach); and they are 
figured by Reeve; but this species has certainly only the scuta. 
Whether this difference is of more than specific value I am not able 
to decide, owing to the great paucity of works of reference here. I 
should be unwilling to describe the species, were it not that it was 
submitted to the late lamented Dr. Stimpson for examination, and 
was pronounced by him to be new. 

A variety, or perhaps another form, was observed by me in Behring 
Strait in 1865, which was blotched all over with rose-pink, and had 
the scuta narrower and more slender; it was also smaller than the 
specimens before me; but as it is not at hand, 1 am unable to decide 
with certainty. . 

I am indebted to Capt. C. M. Scammon and R. E. C. Stearns, Esq., 
for specimens and facilities furnished in the preparation of this paper. 
Most of the specimens were collected by the former gentleman, and 
will be figured in his forthcoming monograph of the Cetaceans of the 
N.W. Coast.—Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 
Dec. 18, 1872. 


THE ANNALS 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
[FOURTH SERIES.] 


No. 64. APRIL 1873. 


XXVII.— On the Calcispongie, their Position in the Animal 
Kingdom, and their Relation to the Theory of Descendence. 
By Professor Ernst Hacke*. 


I. THE POSITION OF THE CALCISPONGLE IN THE ANIMAL 
KINGDOM. 


1. The Primitive Form of the Spongie. 


The results of the examination of the comparative anatomy 
and developmental history of the Calcispongiz (in the second 
section of this volume) not only furnish us with a satisfactory 
insight into the organization of this group of animals and of 
the Sponges in general, but, by comparison with the lower 
states of development of the higher animals, they lead us to 
general reflections which throw a new light upon the natural 
system, the genealogical tree of the animal kingdom. 

In the first place, by our morphology of the Calcispongiz 
the opinion entertained by most spongiologists is confirmed— 
namely, that they form a unitarily organized group, which, by 
its most important characters, belongs to the class of Sponges, 
but occupies within this an independent position. In the 
natural system we can express this relation by dividing the 
whole class of Sponges into three principal sections or sub- 
classes, namely :—I. Gelatinous Sponges (Myxospongie), II. 
Fibrous Sponges (ibrospongie), and III. Calcareous Sponges 


* Translated by W. S. Dallas, F.L.S., from a separate copy of the last 
two chapters of the first volume of Prof. Hackel’s monograph of the Cal- 
cispongize (Berlin, 1872), communicated by the Author. 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 16 


242 Prof. E. Hickel on the Position of the 


(Calcispongie)*. The Myxospongie are characterized by the 
complete absence of a skeleton, the Fibrospongize by their 
partly horny, partly siliceous, fibrous skeleton, and the Calci- 
spongiz: by their calcareous (not fibrous) skeleton. 

The comparative anatomy and ontogeny of the Sponges 
allow us to assume with tolerable certainty that all the 
different forms of this class originate from a single common 
stock form, a primitive sponge (Archispongia) +. ‘That all the 
various Calcispongie may be deduced without any difficulty 
in the most natural manner from a common stock form, 
Olynthus, has already been satisfactorily proved ; the ontogeny 
of the Calcispongize leaves no doubt upon this point. Oscar 
Schmidt has also shown that the united horny and siliceous 
sponges (our Librospongie) must all have descended from a 
common stock form, which we will denominate Chalynthus ; and 
weshall certainly not be far wrong if we assume that the common 
root of both groups is to be sought in the skeletonless group of 
the Myxospongie ; for, as in all other organisms, so also in 
the Sponges, the formation of the skeleton is to be regarded 
phylogenetically as a secondary, and not as a primary act of 
organization. We should therefore have to derive the Fibro- 
spongiz and Calcispongize from the common stock group of 


* The class of Sponges has hitherto been usually divided, after Grant’s 
example (1826), in accordance with the three different modes of formation 
of their skeleton, into the three subclasses of the Horny Sponges (Cerato- 
spongie ), Siliceous Sponges (Siicispongie), and Calcareous Sponges ( Calci- 
spongie). Oscar Schmidt has shown, however, that the separation of the 
Horny and Siliceous Sponges is untenable, because the two groups are 
interwoven with each other most multifariously, and stand in the closest 
polyphyletic connexion (Algier. Spong. 1868, p. 35). I therefore propose 
provisionally to unite the two groups in the division of the Fibrous 
Sponges (Fibrospongie), because in the dried state both exhibit the 
characteristic fibrous texture, of which both the Calcispongize and the 
Myxospongiz are quite destitute. The establishment of the Gelatinous 
Sponges (Myxospongie—the best-known representative of which is 
Halisarca) as a distinct third group seems, upon phylogenetic grounds, 
unavoidable. 

+ The conviction of the monophyletic origin of the whole class of 
Sponges becomes more and more firmly established the further we 
penetrate into their study. On the other hand, the assumption of a 
polyphyletie origin, which, on one’s first superficial acquaintance with the 
sponges, seems to possess the most claim to confidence, loses more and 
more in probability the further we penetrate. Moreover Oscar Schmidt, 
who of all spongiologists undoubtedly possesses the most comprehensive 
view of the whole great form-series of this class, and who, by virtue of 
his clear understanding of the theory of descendence, is most justified in 
pronouncing judgment upon this question, derives all the various groups 
of sponges from a common stock group, which he denominates Proto- 
spongie (Atlant. Spong. 1870, p. 83; “The Natural System of Sponges,” 
Mittheil. des naturwiss. Vereins fiir Steiermark, Bd. ii. Heft 2, 1870). 


Calcispongix in the Animal Kingdom. 243 


the Myxospongiz ; and it is among these last that the common 
stock form of all Sponges, the Archispongia, is to be sought*. 

As, owing to the soft nature of their bodies, no fossil 
remains of the extinct Myxospongix could be preserved, we 
must refer, with respect to their organization, to their few 
living representatives ; and among these Halisarca is at present 
the only accurately known form. This genus is also recog- 
nized by O. Schmidt as that which comes nearest to the 
common stock form of the whole class, his “ Protospongia.” 
He remarks (/. c. p. 34), “that the Halisarcine realize in the 
simplest manner the scheme of the sponges cannot be dis- 
puted.” Nevertheless I must dispute the truth of this remark. 
I have examined two different species of Halisarca alive, 
namely the colourless Halisarca Dujardinii, on the Nor- 
wegian coast (in Bergen), and the violet Halisarca lobularis, 
on the coast of Dalmatia (in Lesina). As regards their 
anatomical characters, I found both to agree essentially with 
the representation which Lieberkiihn has given of the former. 
The soft, gelatinous, amorphous body consists of a lump of 
nucleiferous sarcodine (syncyt’wm), and is permeated by 
branched canals, which are inflated in all parts into numerous 
spherical or ellipsoidal flagellate chambers (the ciliary appa- 
ratus, ‘ Wimper-Apparate,” of Lieberkiihn). Consequently 
the gastro-canal system is constructed on the Leucon type ; 
and if we remove by acid the calcareous spicules from a 
Leucon with a racemose system of branching canals (e.g. 
Leucortis pulvinar), we obtain a sponge-body which, in 
essential points, resembles Halisarca. 

But both the Leucon type and the Sycon type undoubtedly 
descend from the simpler Ascon type; and in accordance with 
this we must seek also for the Halisarcine a much more 
simply organized stock form, standing in the same relation to 
the Ascontes as the Halisarcine to the Leucontes. In order 
to obtain the picture of this hypothetical stock form we need 
only to remove, by means of acid, the calcareous spicules from 


* Fritz Miller, whose instructive work ‘Fiir Darwin’ has in so 
high a degree advanced the comprehension of the causal nexus. between 
ontogeny and phylogeny, in a memoir “On Darwinella awrea, a Sponge 
with stelliform horny spicules,” expresses the supposition that the cal- 
careous spicules of the Calcispongize on the one hand, and on the other 
the siliceous spicules of the Silicispongizw, may have originated from 
a common horny stock form; the former by the calcification, the latter 
by the silicification of the original horny spicules (Archiv fiir mikrosk. 
Anat. 1865, p. 351). Although this hypothesis seems to be in ac- 
cordance with our assumption above, it is nevertheless incorrect, as in 
the Calcispongize the ‘horny foundation” of the Fibrospongiz never 
occurs. 

iG® 


244 Prof. E. Hiickel on the Position of the 


the primitive Ascon form, Olynthus. This skeletonless stock 
form actually realizes “the scheme of the sponges in the 
simplest manner,” and is to be regarded as the original stock 
form, not only of the Halisarcine, but also of all other 
sponges; itis the Archispongia of our monophyletic genea- 
logical tree. 

This Archispongia, the common stock form of all sponges, 
is a simple thin-walled sac of a cylindrical, ellipsoidal, or 
rounded elongate form, a uniaxial, unsegmented person, which 
is attached by one (the aboral) pole of the longitudinal axis, 
and at the other (the oral) pole opens by an orifice (osculum). 
The thin wall of the sacciform body consists of two lamelle 
or leaves. The outer or dermal lamina (the exoderm) is 
composed of a simple layer of non-vibratile cells (which have 
either remained independent or coalesced into a syncytium) ; 
the inner or gastral lamina (the entoderm) consists of a simple 
layer of vibratile flagellate cells, of which, at the attainment 
of sexual maturity, some are converted into sperm-cells and 
others into ovi-cells. The thin body-wall is from time to time 
traversed by unstable simple holes or pores; and then water 
enters through these pores into the cavity of the sac (the 
stomachal cavity), and escapes again from the mouth-oritice 
in consequence of the movement of the flagella*. 


2. The Spongice and the Protozoa. 


The wearisome disputes as to the position of the Sponges in 
the animal kingdom, which have continued even till the 
present day, ought to be finally settled by the morphology of 
the Calcispongie. Every zoologist who recognizes develop- 
mental history as the “true light-bearer” of systematic zoology, 
must admit that by the ontogeny of Olynthus the very near 
relationship of the Ascontes and the Hydroida is proved. But 
before I enter into further details upon this subject, I must 
say a few words upon the supposed relationship of the Sponges 
and Protozoa which has hitherto been accepted by most 
zoologists T. 


* Whether the simplest sponge-forms, corresponding with the picture 
of Archispongia, still exist is not known. Possibly a very near ally is the 
singular sponge which Bowerbank has described as Haliphysema Tuma- 
nowiczt (Brit. Spong. vol. 11. p. 76, fig. 359), and which Carter regards as 
a Polythalamian (Squammulina). I suspect, on the contrary, that it is a 
very simple Myxospongia, which, like Dystdea, forms for itself a skeleton 
of foreign bodies (spicules of other sponges, spines of Echinoderms, &c.), 
but in other respects has the simple structure of Olynthus. 

+ The multifarious older opinions as to the position of the Sponges in 
the system of the animal kingdom are brought together in Johnston’s 
‘History of British Sponges’ (1842, pp. 23-75, history of discoveries as 


Calcispongie én the Animal Kingdom. 245 


I have already shown that the prevailing error as to the 
near relationship of the Sponges and Protozoa originated for 
the most part from & false conception of their conditions of in- 
dividuality. Because the morphontes (morphological elements) 
of the first order which form the sponge-organism, the flagel- 
late and amceboid cells, exhibit a relatively high degree of 
physiological individuality, and because the personality of the 
sponges built up of these (the morphon of the third order) was 
not recognized, the former have been regarded as the “true 
individuals’ of the sponge. I have already (1869) refuted 
this error by demonstrating the homology of the sponge-person 
with the Acaleph-person, and the composition of the wall of 
its stomachal cavity of two lamine (entoderm and exoderm). 

This demonstration has been repeatedly attacked during the 
last two years, and indeed especially by Carter, James-Clark, 
Saville Kent, and Ehlers. The attacks of Carter and of 
James-Clark, neither of, whom has any conception of the 
essence of the cell-theory, have already been refuted. The 
attacks of Saville Kent* are incapable of refutation, and in- 
deed do not need any, simply because the author neither 
understands the arguments brought forward by me, nor is in 
general sufficiently acquainted with the structure and develop- 
ment of the Sponges and Zoophytes. Evidently Saville Kent 
(of the Geological Department, British Museum) does not 
possess even the small measure of zoological knowledge which 
might be expected from a geologist who works at paleontology. 
He does not even know the difference between homology and 
analogy, between the morphological and physiological signifi- 
cance of an organ. He regards the differentiation of such 
notions as quite superfluous. Comparative anatomy and on- 
togeny seem not to exist for Saville Kent; and as my whole 
demonstration rests upon the basis of the latter, of course he 
cannot comprehend it. Ray Lankester has taken the thankless 
trouble to attempt to communicate to this geologist some of 
the elementary pieces of preliminary knowledge which are 
necessary for the discussion of such questions of comparative 


to the nature of Sponges), and in a recently published memoir by Pagen- 
stecher, ‘‘ Zur Kenntniss der Schwimme ”’ (Verhandl. der naturhist. Vereins 
zu Heidelberg, 1872); see also my memoir on the organization of the 
Sponges &c. (1869, Jenaische Zeitschr. Bd. v. p. 307; transl. in Ann, & 
Mag. Nat. Hist. 4th ser. vol. v. pp. 1 & 107). The later spongiologists, 
especially Bowerbank, Carter, Lieberkiihn, O. Schmidt, and Kolliker, 
almost unanimously refer the sponges to a place among the Protozoa, 
where they are appended sometimes to the Amcebie, sometimes to the 
Rhizopoda, and sometimes to the Flagellata. 
* Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1870, 4th ser. vol. v. pp. 204-218. 


246 Prof. E. Hickel on the Position of the 


anatomy *; but it is evident from the naive reply of the latter 
that this well-meant endeavour was in vain f. 

The objections which Ehlers | has made against my theory 
I cannot refute, because his conception of the sponge-organism 
is completely different from mine. I cannot by any means 
conceive a sponge without any internal cavity and without 
two essentially different cell-formations (the flagellate cells of 
the entoderm and the non-ciliated cells of the exoderm). 
Ehlers, on the contrary, assumes two different primary groups 
of sponges, namely “ Spongie holosarcine, with a dense tissue 
without a canal-system, and Spongie celosarcine, which de- 
velop body-cavities”’ (7. c. p. 555) §. He derives the latter 
from the former, and thinks that the Protospongie conceived 
by O. Schmidt as the hypothetical stock group of all Sponges 
were “holosarcine sponges, with a simple, not differentiated 
tissue.”’ Unfortunately we can by no means understand from 
Ehlers’s memoir what he really regards as the characteristic 
“tissue? of the sponges. ‘The word “cell”? occurs nowhere 
in the whole memoir. It would almost appear, however, that 
by “tissue” Ehlers understands the “ hardened sarcode”’ or 
the so-called horny substance of the keratose sponges. Of 
the supposed new form of sponge (Aulorhipis elegans), wpon 
which Ehlers founds his whole argument, he knows nothing 
except the horny skeleton, no trace of soft parts. But this 
horny skeleton, which encloses foreign bodies, is a solid cord, 
attached to a worm-tube at one end, and the dichotomously 
divided branches of which spread out like a fan in one plane. 
It is very probable that this skeleton does not belong to a 
sponge at all. But should it be the product of a sponge, at 


* Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1870, 4th ser. vol. vi. p. 86. + Ibid. p. 250. 

+ “Aulorhipis elegans, eine neue Spongien-Form,” Zeitschr. fiir wiss. 
Zool. Bd. xxi. 1871, p. 540, pl. 42. 

§ The body-cavities of the sponges are placed by Ehlers in two different 
divisions. He calls ‘‘ that great cavity of a sponge which has originated 
by the development of a section of the calenteric space a megacelon, and 
its orifice a megastoma; but the inner space, which has originated by the 
equal participation of the whole tissue of the sponge, a caloma, anditsentrance 
a cenostoma.” According to my notion, the cavity which Ehlers indicates 
as a megacalon with a megastoma will generally correspond with the 
stomach (gaster) with the mouth-opening (osculum). On the other hand, 
the cavity which Ehlers names ce@loma will generally represent that part 
of the intercanal system which I have named pseudogaster, and the cano- 
stoma of the former the pseudostoma of the latter. It is, however, quite 
incomprehensible how Ehlers can regard the cavities of the sponges as 
partly ccelenteric and partly non-ccelenteric, seeing that his entire memoir 
is directed against the ccelenteric interpretation of the canal-system of the 
sponges, and at its close he expressly says:—“ According to my concep- 
tion, it is no longer open to discussion that the Sponges have no close 
relationship to the Ccelenterata.” 


Calcispongiz in the Animal Kingdom. 247 


any rate only the developmental history and the anatomy of 
the soft parts could furnish information upon this peculiar 
structure. It seems rather a bold thing to found an entirely 
new theory of the organization of sponges upon this skeleton 
alone, and upon its supposed relationship to the fossil Stroma- 
topora. In any case this whole theory is completely irrecon- 
cilable with the facts contained in this monograph. 


3. The Sponges and the Acalephe. 


Tn order to recognize the true relationship of the sponges to 
other groups of animals we must, of course, start from the 
simplest and least differentiated forms of the class, from Olyn- 
thus, and from the Archispongia, which differs therefrom by 
the want of calcareous spicules. When we seek for the nearest 
relations of these latter in other classes of animals, it is evident 
that, above all other animals, the simplest forms of the Acale- 
phan group come into the foreground. But amongst all the 
known Acalephe the two freshwater inhabitants of this group, 
Hydra and Cordylophora, are those which exhibit the most 
primitive conditions of organization, and which must stand 
nearest to the original stock form of this group. I cannot, 
therefore, but notice it as an extremely fortunate coincidence 
that two memoirs have just appeared, which diffuse the clearest 
light in every direction over these exceedingly important 
animal forms—namely, the excellent monographs of Hydra by 
Nicolaus Kleinenberg * and of Cordylophora by Franz Hilhard 
Schulzet. Both works are admirable in their kind, being 
distinguished equally by acute observation and by sagacious 
reflection. The monograph on Cordylophora is perhaps of 
more importance for our comparison with Olynthus, because 
this polyp has evidently, in its ontogeny, better preserved the 
original phylogeny of its ancestors than Hydra, which is also, 
in other respects, variously and peculiarly modified in conse- 
quence of special adaptations. On the other hand, the mono- 
graph of Hydra is of more importance by reason of the 
far-reaching philosophical explanations appended to it, and 
especially of the extremely important reflections upon the 
germ-lamella theory. Both monographs merit the highest 
recognition, especially because zoological literature is at present 
flooded with worthless and unconnected fragments, and on 
account of the rarity of exhaustive and complete monographic 
works which furnish a permanent gain to science f. 

* Hydra, eine anatomisch-entwickelungsgeschichtliche Untersuchung. 
With 4 plates. Leipzig, 1872. 

+ Ueber den Bau und die Entwickelung von Cordylophora lacustris. 
With 6 plates. Leipzig, 1871. 


{ If | here bring only Hydra and Cordylophora into consideration 
among the Acalephze (the Coelenterata in the narrower sense), this is 


248 Prof. E. Hiickel on the Position of the 


If we compare the coarser and finer structural characters of 
Hydra and Cordylophora, as these appear to be established by 
the extremely careful histological investigations of Kleinen- 
berg and F. E. Schulze, with the corresponding structural 
characters of Olynthus, we cannot but be astonished at the 
remarkable agreement which is manifested even in the finer 
details. ‘This agreement appears most striking when we 
consider the Olynthus with closed pores, or Prosycum, or if we 
leave out of consideration the calcareous spicules, the group- 
peculiarity of the Calcispongiz, and take, instead of Olynthus, 
the Archispongia (which differs only by the absence of spi- 
cules). As essential agreements of structure between Hydra 
and Cordylophora on the one hand, and Prosycum and the 
Archispongia on the other, we have:—1, the simple sto- 
machal cavity with a buccal orifice; 2, the composition of 
the thin stomachal wall of two lamine, the vibratile entoderm 
and the non-ciliate exoderm; 3, the composition of the ento- 
derm of flagellate cells. 

On the other hand, we have as essential differences :—1, 
the constitution of the exoderm, the cells of which in Hydra 
and Cordylophora develop urticating capsules and neuro- 


because, of all the accurately known forms of this group, I regard them as 
the simplest and most primitive, and as most nearly approaching the 
unknown common stock form of the whole group, the hypothetical 
Archydra. It is true that in 1870 Richard Greeff described, under the 
name of Protohydra Leuckarti, a form apparently still simpler—namely a 
hydroid polype without tentacles, and which is said to propagate by mere 
transverse division (Zeitschr. fiir wiss. Zool. 1870, Bd. xx. p. 37, pls. 4, 5). 
Greeff represents it as “a marine stock form of the Ccelenterata,” as an 
“undoubtedly completely developed and mature, but asexual animal form, 
propagating by transverse division.” But from his whole representation 
it seems to me, on the contrary, to follow indubitably that here we have 
to do with an imperfectly developed hydroid form, which will subse- 
quently become sexually differentiated. It would be contrary to all 
analogy that an animal form so highly differentiated, which in its 
essential anatomical structure seems to agree exactly with Hydra, and 
differs therefrom only by wanting tentacles, should propagate merely 
asexually by transverse division. The question would be very different if 
Protohydra propagated asexually only by spores (or single separated cells). 
At any rate Greeff’s assumption that Protohydra, which was observed 
‘‘for a couple of months” in an oyster-park at Ostend, is undoubtedly an 
independent hydroid form is quite unjustified. Greeff says, “On a 
careful examination of its whole habit, its structure, and movements, and 
taking into consideration its transverse division, and above all the long 
period of observation, all notions that it is a developmental form of an 
Anthozoon or any other form of animal, or of a hydroid polype developed 
and mature in its asexual stage, must disappear.” These arguments, 
however, prove nothing at all; and these rejected notions will only be 
clearly established in the mind of an eer 85 reader by Greeff’s own 
representation. So long as the developmental history of Protohydra is 
completely unknown, we need take no notice of this hydroid form. 


Calcispongiz in the Animal Kingdom. 249 


muscular processes, whilst in Olynthus (and Archispongia ?) 
they coalesce to,form the syncytium; 2, the circlet of ten- 
tacles of the former, which is wanting in the latter; 3, the 
different origin of the sexual organs, in the former in the 
exoderm, in the latter in the entoderm. This last difference 
appears to be of great importance. But even within the 
group of the Acalephe, according to the statements of many 
observers, the sexual cells originate in some in the exoderm, 
in others in the entoderm. I shall revert to this, particularly, 
hereafter. On the other hand, the want of the circlet of 
tentacles in the Sponges is of no significance, as even in the 
Hydroida this does not appear at first, and is wanting m 
many Hydroid forms (Siphonophora). The difference in the 
formation of the exoderm appears to be of more importance ; 
but even this is to be regarded as a secondary histological 
differentiation of the two divergent groups. 

At any rate, these differences in anatomical structure be- 
tween the simplest Hydroida and the simplest Sponges appear 
of quite subordinate significance, when we place in the oppo- 
site scale the weight of the above extremely important and 
essential agreements. This weight, moreover, is considerably 
augmented if we compare the ontogeny of the two groups. 
Hydra itself does not come first into consideration in this case, 
because its primitive ontogeny appears evidently to be strongly 
modified, and effaced and falsified by secondary adaptations. 
On the contrary, the ontogeny of Cordylophora, which per- 
fectly agrees with that of Olynthus (see Schulze, /. c. pp. 38- 
41, pl. v. figs. 1-8), is of the greatest importance. The 
planula, which originates from the morula, and the plano- 
gastrula, which originates from the planula, are perfectly 
similar in the two animals; even the minute structure of the 
two layers of cells, or germ-lamelle, which bound the sto- 
machal cavity of the ovate ciliated larva is in striking agree- 
ment—the small, slender, cylindrical flagellate cells of the 
exoderm, and the large, non-ciliate, rounded-polyhedral cells 
of the entoderm*. 

From this perfectly accordant ontogeny and anatomy of 
Olynthus and Cordylophora follows with perfect certainty 
that conception of the position of the sponges in the animal 
kingdom which I put forward in 1869 in my memoir “ On the 


* It is true that in Cordylophora, the breaking out of the stomachal 
cavity and the formation of the mouth-aperture takes place only after the 
planogastrula has attached itself, and passed into the Ascula-form ; but 
even in many constantly astomatous sponges the gastrula appears not to 
be developed, and the planogastrula becomes directly converted into the 
Clistolynthus, whilst in Olynthus it passes previously into the gastrula. 


250 Prof. E. Hickel on the Position of the 


Organization of the Sponges, &c.,” in the following words :— 
“We should therefore have to divide the stem or phylum of 
the Zoophytes (Celenterata s. Zoophyta) into two primary 
groups (sulphyla or cladi)—1. Sponges (Spongie s. Porifera), 
and 2. Nettle-animals (Acalephe, s. Cnide, s. Nematophora). 
The latter would divide into the three classes of the Corals, 
Hydromedusz, and Ctenophora.” But, with reference to the 
biogenetic fundamental law and the accordant ontogeny of 
the Calcispongie and Hydroida (Olynthus and Cordylophora), 
we shall have further to extend this view of the immediate 
relationship of the Sponges and Nettle-animals to the follow- 
ing proposition :—Sponges and Acalephe are two diverging 
branches of the Zoophyte stem, which have developed themselves 
from the common stem form of the Protascus. ‘This Protascus 
is still represented by the transitory young form of the 
Ascula*. 

As regards the differences between the Sponges and Aca- 
lephe, I regard the want of tentacles in the former as quite 
unessential. They are wanting also in many Acalephee (e.g. 
many Siphonophora and Antipathide). On the other hand, 
in some sponges incipient tentacle-formation seems to occur, 
as, for example, in Osculina polystomella (O. Schmidt, Algier. 
Spong. 1868, pl. i. figs. 6, 7). What is the condition of the 
antimer-formation in this and other siliceous sponges requires 
closer investigation. Certainly the figure which O. Schmidt 
gives of the fissures surrounding the stomachal cavity im some 
forms of Osculina reminds one strongly of the Corals ; and his 
fig. 4, pl. i. (/.c.), might actually pass as the transverse section 
of an octonary Alcyonarian. In other siliceous sponges also 
the stomachal cavity appears to be divided into compartments 
by radial septa (of various number) ; and these may be referred 
to differentiation of antimera. As, however, antimer-formation 
is wanting to many Hydromedusx, we must not lay too much 
weight upon this. 

The urticating organs have hitherto appeared to form one 


* The genealogical connexion of the Sponges and Acalephz is conse- 
quently to be sought only down at the root, where, on the one hand, Archi- 
spongia, the stock form of the Sponges, and on the other Archydra, the 
stock form of the Acalephze, have developed themselves from the common 
Protascus form; whereas the near relation of the Sponges to the Corals, 
to which I formerly gave particular prominence, is to be understood only 
as an analogy, not an homology. I thought at that time that I found in 
the radiate structure of the Sycones an essential morphological point of 
comparison with the Corals; but the developmental history of the radial 
tubes of the Sycones, with which I only became acquainted subsequently, 
has convinced me that these are not homologous with the perigastric 
radial chambers of the Corals. 


Calcispongie in the Animal Kingdom. 251 


of those histological characters which with most certainty 
separated the Acalephe from the Sponges. Until recently 
the proposition was current that all Acalephz possess urti- 
cating organs, and all Sponges are destitute of them. But 
Eimer* has lately stated that he has found urticating cells 
also in several species of siliceous sponges (Renierine). Con- 
sequently this differential character also seems to lose its 
value. There would consequently remain as the sole dif- 
ferential character between Acalephez and Sponges, the pore- 
structure of the latter, on account of which Grant named them 
Porifera. But, in my previous memoir on the organization 
of the sponges, I have already pointed out that in many 
Acalephz cutaneous pores also occur, which open into the 
gastro-canal system, and allow water to penetrate into it from 
without. In the Medusz such aquiferous apertures have 
been described by various authors. In the Corals, cutaneous 
pores, which introduge water from without into the ramifica- 
tions of the gastro-canal system, appear, from the observations 
of Milne-Edwards, Kolliker, and others, to be very widely 
diffused. Still it is very remarkable that these pores appear 
to be wanting precisely in the lowest Acalephan forms, the 
Hydroida. ‘Thus, even if we suppose the two lines of the 
Sponges and Acalephz to separate before the common root, 
we should have to regard the pore-formation in the two 
groups as analogous and not as homologous formations, or, 
more strictly expressed, as homomorphous but not homophylous 
structures. At any rate, however, the boundary between 
the lower Acalephe (Hydroida) and the lower Sponges appears 
at present to be so effaced that, at the moment, we cannot 
establish any single generally applicable differential character 
between the two groups of the Zoophyta. 


4. The Stem of the Zoophytes (Zoophyta or Coelenterata). 


In order to facilitate the comprehension of the preceding and 
following observations, I must here insert a few words as to 
my conception of the zoophytes in general. In the older zoo- 
logical systems the animals which are now usually denominated ~ 
Coelenterata are mixed with other lower animals in the section 
of the Zoophyta, established by Wotton as early as 1552. 
After Lamarck (1814) and Cuvier (1819) it is well known that 
the Hydroida, Meduse, and Corals were generally placed, 
together with the Echinodermata &c., in the extremely un- 
natural division of the radiated animals (Radiata or Radiaria)}, 

* Archiv fiir mikr. Anat. Bd. viii. 1871, p. 281. 


+ I call homophyly the real phylogenetically founded homology, in 
opposition to homomorphy, which is destitute of genealogical foundation. 


252 Prof, E. Hickel on the Position of the 


a group which is now maintained only by Agassiz among 
zoologists of repute. In 1847 Frey and Leuckart separated 
the Polypes and Acalephe of Cuvier from the HEchinoder- 
mata, and united them under the name of Ccelenterata*. 
Almost at the same time Huxley also recognized the necessity 
for this separation, and proposed the denomination Nemato- 
phora for the united Acalephe and Polypes, on account of their 
urticating organs T. At first Leuckart grasped the notion of 
the Coelenterata in a narrower sense (for the three classes 
Ctenophora, Acalephe, and Polypi). Subsequently (1854) 
he appended the Sponges also as most nearly allied to these 
three classes{. Instead of the denomination Cclenterata, 
which is now very generally diffused in Germany, I employ 
the older denomination Zoophyta, which is still the one more 
generally used in England and France, for the following three 
reasons :— 

1. The denomination Zoophyta, which was introduced into 
systematic zoology by Wotton as early as 1552, is nearly three 
hundred years older than the name Ceelenterata. It is true 
that the division Zoophyta in Wotton’s sense and that of his 
successors includes not only the Coelenterata (Sponges and 
Acalephz), but also many other invertebrate animals. But 
exactly the same objection might also be raised, and with much 
more reason, against the denomination Vermes. ‘The primary 
division of the animal kingdom which we now generally name 
the phylum of the Vermes, includes only a very small part of 
the mass of invertebrate animals which Linneus and his 
school embraced in the class Vermes; in the ‘Systema Na- 
ture’ all the Invertebrata, except the Arthropoda, are called 
Vermes. 

2. The denomination Coelenterata of Frey and Leuckart 
has at present become indefinite and ambiguous, because by it 
most zoologists understand only the nettle-animals (Hydro- 
medusx, Ctenophora, and Corals), whilst Leuckart himself 
also referred the Sponges to it. This ambiguity is got rid of 
by our giving the name of Zoophyta to the Ceelenterata in the 
broader sense (including the Sponges), whilst we name the 
Coelenterata in the narrower sense-(after the separation of the 
Sponges) Acalephe. ven Aristotle included under the idea 
of the Acalephe or Cnide (axadrjdar, xvidac) the two primary 
types of this group, the adherent Actiniz and the free-swim- 
ming Meduse. 'The zoology of a later period was wrong in 
understanding only the Meduse under the name of Acalephee. 

* Beitrage zur Kenntniss wirbelloser Thiere, 1847, pp. 38, 137. 


+ Report Brit. Assoc. for 1851, note p. 80. 
{ Arch. fur Naturg., Jahrg. xx. 1854, Bd. ii. p. 472. 


Pure nil te Ahhe ; - H ) iat ; : ia a 
i& OS hays a> ating he ede le ala 1 


PaWae aren bag | 
Gian ital peer wap 
i ; : a ft OLE ey Ne ae ., Se a 
sae ak Py ‘ ie city se i ena as 
Nii giawe is 1 tile, ER. 


ro. 

" eveargo0s ; 
NS Nao go. reba aa ERAT ; 
ty cide % i slaty > + sake /lifiaht ae 
Pikes aor hy . ee 


it il ‘ ee 

, | ; (tee taly bia te “i 
all ae a 

a oy Bucy omy en tae 

mae | het ae hie? . 


A. we 
fap 


<a OM ] 7x , 


<i wae i 
mae ie ie ed 


1 ei wt Se ‘ af 
7 king 
‘aia voli ae 


: | ae itn Penne ania ad 
a J rv! bs fA ns ‘ } 
Wieck 
x : f me be els cnet Ar 
4) 
: a ees) Bo 
Wr es ve % va i a CaM 


moat cou ai 
Berek. cad 
ae jen 
Ai ry 
Bask she i 


eal Tbs oy [pee See) 


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f vey 


To face p. 253.) VERTEBRATA. 
Mammalia. 
Aves. 
ARTHROPODA. Rai MOLLUSCA. 
Insecta. Cephalopoda. 
Myriapoda. Arachnida. em ee |  Coekidee 
| AMNIOTA | 
\ + —) } 
ECHINODERMA. PROTRACHEATA, | Tamalibvanciaat 
Holothurie. | Crustacea, ; | 
Crinoida. ie Amphibia hi a 
Echinida. | A ae = Ampuoxus OTOCARDIA. 
Annelida isces | a : 
——— | Rotatori | | | Spirobranchia. 
sa. ape : ia ap 
| Gephyres aoa Gass Tunica 4 
Phracthelminthes. | | | Pig eBEyarDe. Pramulinsee: 
| ie aaa 
| | | | Sagitta. | 
2 sys ees Nematoda. SSS meer re rie 
CoLELMINT HIMATEGA. 
[a xix r— ——— —— a 
VERMES CGSLOMATI 
(Vermes with a body-cavity). 
Cestoda. ZOOPHYTA. 
ACALEPHA. SPONGLA. 
Trematoda. Ctenophora. Coralla. Calcispongie. 
| Fibrospongiz. 
Meduse. Olynthus. | 
Turbellaria, | ; Chalynthus. 
Hydroida. 
————— — Hydra. | Cordylophora. — +r 
VERMES ACG2LOMI : | } Myxospongie. 
(Vermes without a body-cavity). $$, _—____) | 
sorb DRA. ARCHISPONGIA. 
ee eS | : 
ARCHELMINTHES. ‘Ontogeny: Ascula. 
PROTHELMIS | ...0.\ o.ote ane : PROTASOUS. > 
GASTRABA (Ontogeny : Gastrula). = 
PROTOZOA. PLANULAT 
A (Ont Pl 5 
PROTISTA. Infuaoris, Sadak FES x! 
__ Rhizopoda. Gregarine. 
Diatomea. Myxomycete | Noctilucee. SYNAMCEBAE (Ontogeny: Morula), 
Catallacta. 
Flagellata. r — 
AMCB AS, AMGBA (Ontogeny : Ovulum). 
MONERA. Ele, MONERA (Ontogeny : Monerula), 


To face p. 253. | 


SCA. 
hlides. 
ECHINODERMA. ee 
Holothurie. sllibranchia, 
| Crinoida. | 
Echinida. = 
| Annelida. [A, 
———~ Rotatorii 
ASTERIDA. 
| Gephyrea. 
Phracthelminthes. | 
piles 
| | 
CoLELaaNT! 
NGLA. 
Fibrospongie. 
Chalynthus. 
nongim, 
| 
PONGIA. 
PROTISTA. 
Rhizopoda. | 
Diatomea. Myxomycete 
Catallacta. 1 
| Flagellata. 
MONERA. 


Calcispongiz in the Animal Kingdom. 253 


In our sense the Acalephex coincide with the Nematophora of 
Huxley, and include as three classes the Hydromedusx, Cteno- 
phora, and Corals (or Anthozoa). The denomination is the 
more suitable, as, in fact, the urticating organs seem to form 
the most constant distinction between the Sponges and 
Acalephee. 

3. Above all, I reject the denomination Celenterata, because 
I conceive this group of animals in quite a different sense from 
Leuckart. This author from the first regarded the central 
cavity and its ramifications not as a stomach, but as a body- 
cavity ; and he has also recently (1869) expressly opposed the 
notion “that the internal apparatus of cavities in them repre- 
sents in its morphological significance the body-cavity of other 
animals.” I, on the contrary, share in the views of Gegen- 
baur (1861), Noschin (1865), Semper (1867), and Kowalevsky 
(1868), that the Coelenterata (both Acalephe and Sponges) 
possess no body-cavity at all, and that their internal system of 
cavities is rather homologous with the intestinal cavity of 
other animals. This opinion appears to me to be phylogeneti- 
cally of the greatest importance for the comprehension of the 
homologies of the animal stem; and it stands in the fullest 
agreement with the germ-lamella theory. 


5. The Germ-lamella Theory and the Genealogical Tree of the 
Animal Kingdom. 


Among the phylogenetic questions which have been brought 
into the foreground of philosophical zoology by Darwin’s epoch- 
making reform of the theory of descendence, one of the most 
difficult and obscure, but also one of the most interesting and 
important, is the question of the blood-relationship of the types 
or phyla, the great primary divisions of the animal kingdom, 
which, since the time of Von Baer and Cuvier have passed as 
entirely separate and independent unities. In 1866, in my 
general phylogeny *, I made the first attempt to answer this 
question, and indeed so far that I assumed the common deri- 
vation of the whole animal kingdom from a single stock form, 
but at the same time regarded the types of the Vertebrata, 
Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, and Vermes as narrower 
genealogical unities, which were united only at the root. I 
have also endeavoured to prove this connexion more clearly, 
and to render it more precise in detail, by the demonstration of 
intermediate forms, in my ‘ Natiirliche Schépfungsgeschichte’ 
(1868, pl. 3; 3rd edit., 1872, p. 449). 


* Generelle Morphologie, Bd. ii. pp. 408-417, pl. 1. 


254 Prof. E. Hickel on the Position of the 


Within about a year (1867) my phylogenetic hypotheses 
received a welcome confirmation by the important embryo- 
logical investigations of Kowalevsky, which made their ap- 
pearance in the interval. This meritorious naturalist, who 
for the first time attacked the most difficult questions of 
comparative ontogeny at their root, and who, by his brilliant 
discoveries as to the identical ontogeny of Amphioxus and the 
Ascidia, bridged over the greatest gap hitherto existing within 
the animal kingdom, showed at the same time that in the 
most different groups of animals the primordial course of 
development of the embryo is the same, and especially that 
the germ-lamella theory, previously firmly established only 
among the Vertebrata, also applies to the Invertebrata of the 
most various groups*. In a more detailed memoir which has 
recently appeared, these views are further developed f. 

That the primordial germ-lamellz of the higher animals are 
to be compared with the two permanent formative membranes 
of the Acalephe or Nematophora (the entoderm and exoderm) 
was shown as early as 1849 by Huxley, the discoverer 
of those membranes. In Kleinenberg’s thoughtful and sug- 
gestive monograph of Hydra, this comparison is more closely 
demonstrated, and at the same time employed in favour of the 
view of the monophyletic origin of the animal kingdom. 

The anatomy and developmental history of the Calci- 
spongiz, as described by me, have furnished proof that the 
sponges also belong to the circle of this stock-relationship, 
and that indeed in them the two primordial germ-lamelle are 
retained through life in the purest and simplest form. The 
development of the Calcispongie from the Gastrula is of 
decisive significance for this theory. J regard the Gastrula as 
the most important and significant embryonic form in the whole 
animal kingdom. It occurs among the SPONGES (in Calci- 
spongie of all the three families), the ACALEPH (Cordylo- 
phora, Meduse, Siphonophora, Ctenophora, Actiniz), the 
VerMES (Phoronis, Sagitta, Huaxes, <Ascidia, &c.), the 
EcurnopermMata (Asterida, Echinida), the Mo~iusca (Lym- 
nus), and the VERTEBRATA (Amphioxus). Embryonic forms 
which may be derived without ditticulty from the gastrula also 
occur among the ARTHROPODA (Crustacea and Tracheata). 
In all these representatives of the most various animal stocks 


* Entwickelungsgeschichte des Amphioxus lanceolatus, 1867 (Mém. de 
l’Acad. de St. Pétersb. tome xi. no. 4). 

+ Embryologische Studien an Wiirmern und Arthropoden, 1871 (ibid. 
tome xvi. no. 12). 

t{ “On the Anatomy and Affinities of the Medusz,” Phil. Trans, 1849, 
p. 426. 


Calcispongi in the Animal Kingdom. 255 


the gastrula possesses exactly the same structure. In all, its 
simple, rounded elongate, uniaxial body contains a simple 
central cavity (stomachal cavity), which opens by an orifice at 
one pole of the axis. In all the thin wall of the cavity consists 
of two layers of cells or lamella :—an inner lamella of larger, 
darker cells—the entoderm, gastral lamella, inner, trophic or 
vegetative germ-lamella; and an outer lamella of smaller, 
generally vibratile, paler cells—the exoderm, dermal lamella, 
external, sensorial or animal germ-lamella. From this identity 
of the gastrula in representatives of the most various animal 
stocks from the Sponges to the Vertebrata I deduce, in accord- 
ance with the biogenetic fundamental law, a common descent of 
the animal Phyla from a single unknown stock form, Gastrea, 
which was constructed essentially like the gastrula*. 


6. The Body-cavity and Intestinal Cavity of Animals. 


If the preceding comparisons are correct, and consequently 
the two primordial germ-lamelle are homologous throughout 
the animal kingdom from the Sponges to the Vertebrata 
inclusive, it follows immediately and as a matter of course 
that the Zoophyta or Celenterata cannot possess a body-cavity, 
and that all the internal cavities of their body (leaving out of 
consideration the intercanal system of certain sponges) belong 
to the gastro-canal system, and are parts or diverticula of the 
intestinal cavity. All these gastro-canals are originally lined 
by the entoderm, the gastral lamella, or intestino-glandular 
lamella, as is the case with the intestinal canal and its 
appendages in all the higher animals. Perhaps it will be of 


* Only the Protozoa are excluded from this common descent. For 
them I assume for the most part an independent polyphyletic descent, 
especially for those so-called ‘‘ Protozoa” which might equally well be 
regarded as plants or animals, and are therefore best grouped as neutral 
Protista. Other Protozoa undoubtedly belong partially to the direct 
progenitors of the Gastrula, as especially the Amoeba and Monera. 
The scruples which may arise against the homology of the gastrula in all 
the different animal stocks I will refute elsewhere. The most important 
objection seems to consist in the fact that the Gastrula is supposed to 
originate in two perfectly different ways from the Morula :—sometimes (in 
the Sponges, Hydroida, some Vermes, &c.) by the central excavation of the 
Morula, and the breaking through of the stomachal cavity thus formed ; 
sometimes (in other Vermes, Ascidia, Echinodermata, Amphioxus) by the 
formation of a germinal vesicle (Blastosphera), a hollow sphere, the wall 
of which consists of a layer of cells, and by the inversion of this germinal 
vesicle into itself. This difference, which is apparently so essential, re- 
quires, however, to be more accurately investigated with regard to its 
meaning and diffusion ; and as it occurs in very nearly allied forms of the 
same stock (e.g. the Hydroida and Meduse), I regard it (supposing it to 
be real!) as quite unessential, originating by secondary counterfeiting of 
the ontogenesis. In both cases the result is exactly the same. 


256 Prof. E. Hiickel on the Position of the 


advantage, in order to express this thoroughgoing homology, 
to designate the primordial rudiment of the intestine, such as 
persists through life in the simplest form in Olynthus and 
Hydra, as the primitive intestine (Urdarm, progaster), and its 
orifice as the primitive mouth (Urmund, prostoma), especially 
as, according to Kowalevsky’s statements, this primordial 
mouth-opening appears (at least in many animals) to represent 
not the future permanent mouth, but the future anus. 

The true body-cavity, which is usually termed the pleuro- 
peritoneal cavity in the Vertebrata, and for which we propose 
instead of this sesquipedalian term the more convenient de- 
nomination celoma (koiiwpa, a cavity), occurs only among 
the higher animal stocks, the Vermes, Mollusca, Echino- 
dermata, Arthropoda, and Vertebrata. As the ontogeny of 
the Vertebrata shows us, this coeloma always originates be- 
tween the inner and outer germ-lamelle, by a splitting of the 
middle germ-lamella into a cutaneous and an intestinal fibro- 
lamella. Now, as the middle germ-lamella is entirely deficient 
in the Sponges, no cceloma can occur in them. It is equally 
absent in the Acalephe, although in these a middle germ- 
lamella (mesoderm, or muscular lamella) is already developed. 
It is therefore of great importance to our monophyletic theory 
of descent that the lowest Vermes (‘Turbellaria, Trematoda, 
Cestoda, &c.) are also entirely destitute of a caeloma, which is 

only developed in the higher Vermes (Vermes celomati), from 
which it has been inherited by all the four higher stocks. 
The Vermes without a body-cavity (Vermes acaelomi) are in 
this respect “‘ Coelenterata.” 

The true body-cavity, or coeloma, therefore, can never, like 
the intestinal or stomachal cavity, be enclosed by the ento- 
derm. lLeuckart certainly says expressly (even in 1869), 
“The body-cavity of the Coelenterata is not situated between 
the exoderm and entoderm, but is enclosed by the latter ;” 
but this very statement proves that Leuckart’s conception of 
the ‘ Coelenterate type” is quite erroneous, Neither can the 
body-cavity ever communicate directly with the stomachal 
cavity or the intestinal cavity, as is said to be the case with 
the Coelenterata in the writings of Leuckart and many other 
authors. The anatomy and ontogeny of the cceloma, or pleuro- 
peritoneal cavity, in all the higher animals shows rather that 
this true body-cavity is from the first commencement a perfectly 
distinct cavity, quite independent of the intestinal tube, which 
is never connected with it. The buccal opening never leads 
into the true body-cavity; and when Leuckart and others 
conceive of the intestinal or stomachal cavity of the Ccelen- 
terata as a ‘“ body-cavity,” they ought, to be consistent, 


Calcispongie in the Animal Kingdom. 257 


to call its aperture not a buccal orifice, but a porus ab- 
dominalis. 

In the case 6f these and of many other difficult morpho- 
logical conditions, the true and correct conception comes at 
once in its full power when we consider them in the light of 
the theory of descent. The first organ which the primordial, 
multicellular Synamaba must have formed for itself on the 
commencement of organological differentiation was the 7zn- 
testine. ‘The inception of nutriment was the first requirement. 
In this way was produced the Gastrea, the whole body of 
which is still intestine, as in the Protascus, and as in Olynthus 
and Hydra (in the latter leaving out of consideration the 
tentacles). It was only much later, after the production of 
the middle germ-lamella, that the true body-cavity was formed 
in the latter (by the splitting of the mesoderm, the solid cell- 
mass between exoderm and entoderm). In it fluid accumu- 
lated—the first blood. In all animals which have a true 
body-cavity this is filled either with blood or lymph (there- 
fore communicating directly with the blood-vascular system !), 
but never with chyme or chyle, or with crude nutritive 
material. Consequently the cavities of the gastro-canal system 
in the Sponges and Acalephe are not body-cavities, but an 
intestinal cavity. 


7. The Origin of the Mesoderm and of the Generative Organs. 


In connexion with the preceding theory of the homology of 
the germ-lamelle in the whole animal kingdom, some ques- 
tions closely related to it may be briefly treated. For this 
purpose we assume the alleged homology as proved so far as 
that the primitive intestine in all animal-stocks, from the 
Sponges to the Vertebrata, is originally identical, and produced 
from the entoderm of the Gastrula, and in the same way the 
dermal lamella (neuro-corneous lamella) is produced from the 
exoderm of the Gastrula*. 

In the Sponges, certainly at least in the Calcispongie and 
in many other low sponges, the two germ-lamelle persist 
through life in their original simplicity. In the lowest Acalephe 
also we still find them so. But even in Hydra a third lamella, 


* The opinion expressed by Kowalevsky (/.c. 1871, p. 6), that the 
a a lamella of the insects is not homologous with that of 
other animals, but a perfectly distinct lamella, I regard as erroneous. It 
is precisely among the insects that the ontogeny is very strongly falsified 
by secondary adaptation. On the other hand, I regard the embryonal 
envelopes (and especially the amnion) as decidedly not homologous in 
Insects and Vertebrata. They are only analogous envelopes, and are 
wanting in the lower Vertebrata. 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 17 


258 Prof. E. Hiickel on the Position of the 


a muscular lamella, begins to be developed between the two 
lamelle ; and this constitutes, in the higher Acalephe, a 
distinct mesoderm with greatly differentiated products. Now, 
as, according to Kleinenberg’s careful exposition, this muscular 
lamella proceeds directly from the exoderm, and as Kolliker 
also with great certainty derives the mesoderm of the Aca- 
lephze from the exoderm, the question of the origin of the 
middle germ-lamella ought by this means to be brought 
nearer to its solution. It is well known that most ontogenists 
derive the middle germ-lamella in the Vertebrata from the 
splitting of the inferior one, whilst others make it originate 
from the superior germ-lamella. The morphology of Hydra, 
in which the individual muscles composing the middle lamella 
are nothing more than internal processes of the cells of the 
exoderm, and remain throughout lite in connexion therewith, 
appears to prove the origin of the mesoderm or muscular 
lamella from the outer germ-lamella, the exoderm (see note 
p- 261). 

Greater difficulties are presented by the question of the 
origin of the generative organs. In the embryology of the 
Vertebrata, the first rudiments of the sexual glands have been 
derived, even in the most recent times, by some from the 
upper, by many from the middle, and by others from the 
inferior germ-lamella. Consequently all the three possible 
views have at present their supporters. If we endeavour to 
solve these contradictions on the basis of homology above 
affirmed by regarding the origin of the sexual cells in the 
Zoophytes as furnishing a rule, we find unfortunately that the 
same differences prevail here also. Nearly an equal number 
of observers represent the ova and sperm-cells of the Aca- 
lephe as produced from the exoderm and from the entoderm. 
The sexual cells originate from the entoderm, according to my 
own observations in the Meduse* (1864), according to the 
investigations of Kéllikert “in Meduse and Hydroid Polypes 
without exception” (1865), and according to the statements of 
Allmanf in the Sertulariz and Tubulariz (1871). 

The still unpublished investigations of Dr. Gottlieb von 
Koch also agree with this; and he has shown me numerous 
preparations of Coralla (Veretillum, Cereanthus, &c.) and of 
Hydroids (Coryne, Tubularia, &c.) which seem to prove 
undoubtedly the origin of the ovicells from the epithelium of 
the gastro-canal spaces. 


* “Die Familie der Riisselquallen (Meduse Geryonide),” Jenaische 
Zeitschr. Bd. i. 1864, p. 449. 

+ Icones Histologic, Heft ii. 1865, p. 89. 

t Monograph of the Gymnoblastic or Tubularian Hydroids, 1871, p. 149. 


Calcispongiz tn the Animal Kingdom. 259 


In opposition to these statements, the sexual products of the 
Acalephez originate from the exoderm, in the Siphonophora 
according to Keferstei and Ehlers*, in Cordylophora ac- 
cording to F. E. Schulze (/.c. p. 36), and in Hydra according 
to Kleinenberg (/. c. pp. 30, 32). 

In the Sponges the origin of the sexual cells could not 
hitherto be investigated in connexion with this question, 
because the fundamental construction of their body, of the two 
formative membranes, and the homology of these with the 
exoderm and entoderm of the Acalephe, as also with the two 
germ-lamelle of the higher animals, had not been recognized. 
When I first demonstrated this homology, as a matter of 
course the question from which of the two lamelle the sexual 
cells originate could not but acquire great importance for me. 
I have discussed this question in detail in my third chapter, 
and have finally arrived at the result that both forms of sexual 
cells are with great probability to be derived from the entoderm. 
Unfortunately, however, I cannot assert this with as much 
certainty as could be desired, and I must still leave the 
opposite possibility open. 


8. The Biogenetic Fundamental Principle. 


“ Ontogenesis is the brief and rapid recapitulation of 
phylogenesis, governed by the physiological functions of 
transmission (reproduction) and nutrition (adaptation). The 
organic individual, during the rapid and brief course of its 
individual development, repeats the most important of those 
changes of form which its ancestors have passed through 
during the long and gradual course of their paleontological 
development in accordance with the laws of transmission and 
adaptation.” It is with these words that, in my general 
history of developmentt, I have expressed the theory of the 
causal nexus of ontogenesis and phylogenesis, or biontic and 
phyletic development, upon which it 1s my firm conviction 
that the whole inner comprehension of developmental history 
depends, and which I therefore placed at its head as the 
biogenetic fundamental principle. With this first “ funda- 
mental principle of organic development”? the whole de- 
scendence-theory is inseparably united; the two stand or 
fall together. This has been shown in a most admirable 
manner by Fritz Miiller, in his ingenious phylogeny of the 
Crustacea f. 

* Zoologische Beitrage, 1861, p. 2. 

+ Generelle Morphologie, 1866, Bd. ii. pp. 6, 300; Natiirl. Schopfungs- 
gesch. 5rd edit. 1872, p. 362. 

t Fur Darwin, 1864. 

Ris 


260 Prof. E. Hickel on the Position of the 


The comparative anatomy and developmental history of the 
Calcispongiz furnish a coherent confirmation of this principle. 
Supported upon this, we have been enabled in the preceding 
pages to attempt to extend their consequences beyond the 
narrow domain of the Sponges to the general phylogeny of 
the animal kingdom. We are induced to indicate it expressly 
here once more, partly by the opposition which our biogenetic 
principle has met with*, and partly by the desire to recall 
certain guiding principles which have come up with reference 
to ontogeny on this occasion. 

The newer ontogeny or embryology has evidently fallen 
from year to year more and more into a chaos of contradictory 
opinions and assertions, which show the value of this science 
in a very doubtful light. We need only refer to the perfectly 


* The most decided opposition to the biogenetic fundamental principle 
has been raised by the embryologist Professor His, of Leipzig (Ueber die 
erste Anlage des Wirbelthier-Leibes: Leipzig, 1867 ; and Ueber die Be- 
deutung der Entwickelungsgeschichte fiir die Auffassung der organischen 
Natur: Leipzig, 1870). The views as to the significance of ontogeny 
which His here develops stand in the most absolute antagonism to 
mine; but it can only be for the advantage of the advance of knowledge 
that such irreconcilable contradictions should be expressed as clearly and 
distinctly as possible. Zither there is or there is not a direct and causal 
connexion between ontogeny and phylogeny. Hither ontogenesis is a con- 
densed (and partially masked by adaptation) abstract of phylogenesis, or 
it is not. His holds the latter opinion; [hold the former. In my opinion 
His, in his antagonism to phylogeny, stands entirely on the ground of the 
long-since exploded evolution-theory, although he seems to attack it. He 
has not at all comprehended the true theory of epigenesis; otherwise he 
would have understood its intimate connexion with the descendence- 
theory; for the two are inseparable. As regards the much-admired 
attempts of His to explain ontogenetic. facts after a new, professedly 
mechanical fashion, these seem to me quite erroneous and valueless. 
The attempt to conceive of the germinal disk (which is not elastic!) as 
an elastic plate, and to explain by its unequal extension the production of 
the folds—the attempt to explain the homology of the four extremities of 
the Vertebrata by the crossing of four folds circumscribing the body, like 
the four corners of a letter, and other similar fancies, appear to be 
susceptible only of a humorous examination, but not of serious refutation. 
That these droll fancies should have been admired as great ideas proves 
the complete want of judgment which at present prevails both in ontogeny 
and histology. At the same time, however, these great errors, with 
respect to which we can only regret the great expenditure of time, trouble, 
and industry that they have cost, show how necessary for investigations in 
the difficult field of ontogeny is orientation in the domain of comparative 
anatomy, and reference of ontogenetic processes to their mechanical phylo- 
genetic causes, their true “ cause efficientes.” Only because these two 
conditions are not fulfilled by His can we explain how he could arrive 
at so completely erroneous a conception of embryology. It is true that 
Donitz (following the example of his master, Reichert) has shown that 
the confusion in the domain of ontogeny can be carried much further, 
and that even the germ-lamella theory is no longer necessary. 


Calcispongie in the Animal Kingdom. 261 


irreconcilable representations which have been given within 
the last few years of the embryology of many Vertebrata and 
Arthropoda. Tliis chaotic condition of animal ontogeny may 
certainly in part be excused by the difficulty of the subject 
and the various methods of observers. But for the most part 
it is due to the fact that most ontogenists work without any 
method at all,—that is, if we understand by the term scientific 
method of investigation a thoughtful and systematic compre- 
hension, a comparative treatment and a philosophical develop- 
ment of the problem, and not merely the empirico-technical 
treatment of the object with anatomical instruments and 
chemical reagents. 

No doubt the present state of embryology would be much 
more satisfactory if most embryologists did not entirely turn 
away their eyes from those two guiding-stars which alone are 
able to lead to the goal in the difficult and obscure paths of 
ontogeny, namely comparative anatomy and phylogeny. In 
most embryological treatises we see at the first glance that 
their authors are not well acquainted with comparative 
anatomy (as it is treated, for example, in the classical “ Grund- 
ziige’ of Gegenbaur), and that they know little more than 
the individual animal, or the particular group of animals, 
whose development they are studying. But, for the compre- 
hension of the higher animals, a thorough knowledge of the 
comparative anatomy of the lower animals is indispensable. 
And it is equally indispensable to every good ontogenetic 
investigation that phylogeny should be constantly taken into 
consideration. Many false embryological theories would have 
been quite incapable of establishing themselves if they had 
been looked at in the light of the descendence-theory and 
with reference to phylogeny*. Comparative anatomy, on- 


* The value of the ontogenetic theories which have been proposed 
without reference to phylogeny appears clearly from the following fact :— 
In one and the same vertebrate (e.g. the common fowl) one group of 
observers still find that the middle germ-lamella originates from the 
upper, and a second group that it originates from the lower germ-lamella ; 
a third group find that the upper half of the middle germ-lamella (the 
skin-lamella) originates from the dermal lamella, and its lower half (the 
intestino-fibrous lamella) from the gastrallamella, Again, some embryo- 
logists make the sexual organs originate from the upper, others from the 
middle, and others from the lower lamella. Similar differences prevail 
with regard to the origin of other organs. Now, as every observer assures 
us that his observation is the correct one, and all others are erroneous, 
the phylogenist who desires to recognize with certainty at least the most 
important principles of phylogeny from these ontogenetic facts finds 
himself quite helpless before them. 

As regards the origin of the mesoderm, it must be added to what has 
already been said on the subject (pp. 257, 258) that the third view just 


262 Mr. EH. A. Smith on new Species of Terebride. 


togeny, and phylogeny remain the three great “ records of 
creation,” which alone, by their reciprocal completion, eluci- 
dation, and agreement, can enlighten us as to the essence and 
origin of organic forms. 


[To be continued-] 


XXVITI—Remarks on a few Species belonging to the Family 
Terebride, and Descriptions of several new Forms in the 
Collection of the British Museum. By Epne@ar A. Siri, 
F.Z.S., Zoological Department, British Museum. 


TEREBRA BUCCINULUM, Desh., described in the‘ Journal de Con- 
chyliologie,’ 1857, vol. vi. p. 92, pl. v. fig. 12, and refigured by 
Reeve in the ‘Conchologia Iconica,’ vol. xii. Terebra, fig. 101 6, 
is the same species of shell as that figured by the latter author, 
in his monograph of the genus Bullia,as B. turrita, Gray. 
Of this there can be no doubt, as I have before me the 
actual examples that are figured and cannot trace the slightest 
difference. 

Messrs. H. & A. Adams (Gen. Rec. Moll. i. p. 114) place 
turrita, Gray, as a Leiodomus, Swainson (as restricted by 
them), a subgenus of Pseudostrombus, where at present it may 
be convenient to let it remain ; for certainly this shell has more 
affinity to the Bulla group than to the Terebride. 


Terebra aciculina, Lamk. 


Messrs. Deshayes, Hinds, and Reeve (partim) refer the same 
shell to this name. Deshayes cites the figure 13 on plate vii. 
of Kiener’s ‘Coq. Viv.’ Hinds, in his monograph in the 
‘Thesaurus Conchyl.,’ figures it on plate xlv. fig. 130 as a 
synonym of cinerea, Basterot, and Reeve, Conch. Icon. xii. 
figs. d (typical) and a,c, f (vars.). The latter author quotes as 
synonyms anomala, Gray, inconstans, Hinds, and mathero- 
niana, Desh., which I believe to be as good and distinct 
species as any in the genus. 7’. anomala, the type of which is 
before me, is not the shell figured by Reeve, Conch. Icon. 
fig. 121, a&c. Hinds has given a very fair representation of 


cited has some claim to be received. In fact, for reasons of comparative 
anatomy, it is not improbable that originally (phyletically!) the gastro- 
fibrous lamella (or gastro-muscular lamella) originated from the entoderm, 
and the skin-lamella (or dermo-muscular lamella) from the exoderm. 
The coalescence of the two originally separate muscular lamelle in the 
mesoderm, such as usually appears to occur in the ontogeny of the 
Vertebrata, would then have to be conceived as a secondary develop- 
mental act. 


Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebride. 263 
it (Thes. Conch. fig. 97), which shows clearly the chief di- 


stinctive feature of the species, namely the wavy spiral sulcus 
or impressed line which divides the whorls a little below the 
suture. 

T. inconstans, Hinds, l. c. fig. 83 (Reeve, /. c. fig. 121, 6, 
typical, c, var.), is recognized, in the first place, by its shorter 
and broader form, then by the greater coarseness of the ribs or 
plications, which are produced to the base of the whorls, and 
lastly, but especially, by the presence of a thick callosity or 
plication situated on the middle of the columella, rather far 
within the aperture. 

T. matheroniana, Desh., is a small species, of a very distinct 
character. The longitudinal plications are continuous to the 
base of the whorls ; and the aperture is small and narrow, and 
not patulate as in aciculina. 


Terebra pulchra, Hinds. 


The type of this species, presented to the British Museum 
by Sir E. Belcher, on comparison with cerdthina, Lamk., 
proves to be but the early stage of that form. 


Subgenus nov. IMPAGES. 
Testa subulata, terebreformis; anfract. integri, plus minusve 
longitudinaliter striati vel plicati, sutura indistincta separati ; 
callo angusto lineam suturalem supra cincti. 


The term Letodomus was applied by Swainson in 1840 to 
some of the species composing the genus Bullia of Gray (1835). 
It is restricted by Messrs. H. & A. Adams, in their ‘Genera of 
Recent Mollusca’ (i. p. 114), to one of the species quoted by 
Swainson, viz. véttata (Linn.), and three or four others unknown 
to that author. 

Dr. Gray, in the ‘Guide to the Systematic Distribution of 
Mollusca in the British Museum’ (p. 6), applies this name to 
those species of Terebride which have a callous band encircling 
the whorls above, but contiguous to the sutural line, quoting 
T. ceerulescens [var. =nimbosa, Hinds] as an example. The 
other species which possess this peculiarity are means, Hinds 
(var. Adansoni, Desh.), acuminata, Gray, cuspidata, Hinds, 
apicina, Desh., Traillit, Desh., bacillus, Desh. 

As I deem it advisable to leave the group Letodomus as a 
subgenus of Bullia, as disposed by Messrs. Adams, I would 
propose to apply the subgeneric title Jimpagesto the above- 
named species. 

Terebra flava, Gray. 


The specimen from which the figure of this species in the 


264 Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebride. 


‘Thesaurus Conchyl.’ pl. xliv. fig. 75 was taken is in the 
Cumingian collection. On comparing it with the type of flava 
in the British Museum, it proves to be a very distinct shell ; 
and I have therefore applied to it the name /utescens. 


Genus TEREBRA. 


Terebra Adamsiti. 


7. testa subulata, leviter turrita, sordide albida, strigis fuscis, parvis 
(in anfr. singulo pluribus) sulcis transversis interruptis ornata ; 
anfr. ultimus infra peripheriam albidam zona fusca cinctus ; anfr. 
19-20, plani, superne tuberculorum parvorum seriebus spiralibus 
duabus sulco divisis (superioribus majoribus, obliquis, cingulum 
infrasuturale constituentibus), cincti, et sulcis angustis 3 (in anfr. 
ultimo 9-10) insculpti; anfr. ultimus brevis, subquadratus ; 
columella contorta, alba; canalis leviter recurvus. 

Long. 36 mill., diam. 63. 

Hab. Japan (A. Adams). 


This and the other species from Japan described in the 
present paper were collected in the seas surrounding that 
country by Mr. Arthur Adams, to whom I have much pleasure 
in dedicating the present form. 

The whorls have an infrasutural band of oblique nodules 
(in width occupying about one third of the whorl), which are 
irregularly brown and white, and also just below this a second 
girdle of smaller nodules, which are alternately brown and 
white. From these brown nodules descend little narrow 
streaks of the same colour, which are interrupted by the three 
narrow spiral sulci or strize which are engraven around each 
whorl. 


Terebra australis. 


T. testa subulata, subturrita; anfr. convexiusculi basesque versus 
paululum contracti, superne sulco profundo divisi; pars superior 
angulata, nodulis subacutis munita; pars inferior costis validissimis, 
rectis, acutis (in anfr. ultimo 27—28 sensim ad basim obsoletis) in- 
structa, haud spiraliter striata ; dilute livido-fulva ; costarum acies 
pallide, anfractusque dimidium inferius dilute fulvum ; apertura 
intus superne fulva, inferne pallida; columella subrecta; canalis 
brevissimus. 

Long. 55 mill., diam. 123 ; apertura long. 12 mill., diam. 5. 


Hab. Swan River, and Paterson’s Bay, Torres Straits, 
North Australia (J. R. Hlsey, Esq.). 

This is a very remarkable species, of which there are two 
specimens in the British Museum. ‘The infrasutural belt, 


Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebride. 265 


which is angled in the middle and furnished with small sub- 
acute nodules, is divided off by a most well-defined deeply cut 
furrow, as in T¥trochlea, Desh. The ribs which form the rest 
of the whorls are strong, contiguous, very regular, and acute. 
The general colour is a pale livid fawn, the sharp edges or 
angles of the ribs being whitish, and the basal half of the body- 
whorl of a deep cream-colour or very pale brown. 


Terebra concolor. 

T. testa polita, nitente, aut alba aut dilutissime ceruleo-alba, subu- 
lata, subturrita ; anfr. planiusculi, sulco bene definito ineequaliter 
divisi; pars superior nodulis parvis, elongatis, obliquis munita ; 
pars inferior costis parvulis, subdistantibus, erectis (in anfr. ultimo 
breviusculo 14-15 ad basim sensim obsoletis) instructa ; columella 
curta, subrecta ; canalis brevissimus. 

Long. 22 mill., diam. 6; apertura long. 5 mill., diam. 23. 

Hab. ? 


A whitish shining species, furnished with oblique oblong 
nodules on the infrasutural belt ; and on the remainder of the 
whorls there are small, regular, upright ribs somewhat distant 
from each other, which gradually become stouter towards the 
apex. 


Terebra similis. 

T. testa subulata, polita, alba, subturrita; anfr. primi 8-9 angulatim 
convexi, ceeteri planiusculi, sulco profundo inzqualiter divisi ; pars 
superior nodulis parvis erectis, subacutis, munita; pars inferior 
costis subvalidis, erectis (in anfr. ultimo subelongato 14-15 fere 
ad basim continuis) instructa; apertura oblongo-elongata; colu- 
mella subrecta, elongata; canalis brevis. 

Long. 22 mill., diam. 6; apertura long. 64 mill., diam. 23. 

Hab. ? 


At first sight this species is rather like 7. concolor; how- 
ever, on closer comparison, there are found to exist several 
good specific differences. In 7’. smzlis the infrasutural band 
is defined by a deeper furrow than in 7’ concolor; and the 
nodules in the former are upright and rather acute, especially 
those in the first seven or eight whorls, while those of the latter 
are oblique, not so strong, and not acute. The longitudinal 
ribs also of 7. similis are considerably stouter than those in 
T. concolor ; and the aperture and body-whorl of the latter are 
likewise much shorter than in the former. 


Terebra japonica. 


T. testa subulata; anfr. 17, planiusculi, albidi, inferne zona lata oli- 
vaceo-fusca (inter costas praecipue conspicua) ornati, costis longi- 


266 Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebride. 


tudinalibus validis, contiguis, subacutis, leviter arcuatis (in anfr. 
ultimo circiter 15) instructi, et infra suturam linea impressa 
spirali inter costas ineequaliter divisi ; anfr. ultimus ad peripheriam 
zona angusta alba ornatus, inferne fuscus ; columella fusca, leviter 
contorta. 


Long. 32 mill., diam. 7. 
Hab. Japan (A. Adams). 


The strong ribs, acute at the edges and contiguous at their 
bases, and the style of coloration (namely, the upper half of 
the whorls being white, and the lower portion olive-brown) are 
the most prominent features of this species. ‘The edges of the 
ribs are whitish ; and there isa narrow whitish band encircling 
the periphery of the last whorl, which is of a brown colour 
towards the base. 


Subgen. MyurReELLA. 
Myurella fiiensis. 


M. testa subturrita, subulata, polita, alba, anfractuum medio dilute 
brunneo obscure zonata; anfr. planiusculi, costis subvalidis obli- 
quis paululum arcuatis (in anfr. ultimo 13 sensim ad basim obso- 
letis) instructi, et transversim concinne 8- (in anfr. ultimo 16-) 
sulcati; cingulum infra suturam inconspicuum ; apertura parva ; 
columella fere recta ; canalis brevis. 

Long. 21 mill., diam. 4. 


Hab. Ovalau, Fiji Islands. 


The chief characteristics of this species are the regularity 
of the spiral sulci, about eight in each whorl and double that 
number in the last, and the obscurity of the infrasutural spiral 
groove, which is only to be detected in the upper whorls, and 
consists of a series of elongate punctures between the longitu- 
dinal ribs. ‘The faint brownish band around the middle of the 
whorls is probably somewhat faded. 


Myurella turrita. 


M. testa turrita, subulata, polita, albida, dilute fusco sparsim macu- 
lata ; anfr. planiusculi, ad bases paululum contracti, costis longi- 
tudinalibus, crassis, aliquando obliquis et arcuatis (in anfr. ultimo 
19-20 fere ad basim continuis) instructi, suturamque infra inter 
costas punctorum serie et supra costas sulco minime profundo in- 
equaliter divisi, et spiraliter fortiter 4- (in anfr, ultimo 9- ad 10-) 
suleati ; apertura brevis ; columella superne recta, basi contorta. 
Long. 26 mill., diam. 43. 


Hab. Torres Straits. 
Perhaps the above may not be the dimensions of a specimen 


Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebride. 267 


of mature growth ; but the characters of the species are very 
distinct. The turreted appearance, the polished shining sur- 
face, the few coarse spiral sulci, and the style of the coloration 
very clearly define this form. 


Myurella Belchert. 


M. testa subulata, dilute rubida, anfr. ultimi medio zona alba obscura 
cincto; anfr. convexiusculi, costis longitudinalibus, arcuatis (in 
anfr. ultimo 17-18 ad basim sensim obsoletis) instructi, sulcoque 
minime profundo suturam infra inequaliter divisi, et sulcis 4-5 
transversis (in anfr. ultimo 15-16) super costas continuis ornati ; 
columella contorta, ad basim obliqua. 

Long..39 mill., diam. 8; apertura long. 7 mill., diam. 4. 


Hab. Guayaquil, Ecuador. 


This species, of which there is but one specimen in the 
British Museum (presented by Sir Edward Belcher), has for 
its nearest ally spectllata, Hinds. It may, however, be at once 
known from it by the greater coarseness of the longitudinal 
ribs, which are cut across by the transverse sulci; this is not 
so conspicuous in specillata, which has longer whorls and a 
straighter columella than the present species. The coloration 
is also different. 


Myurella Macgillivrayt. 


M. testa subulata, subturrita, sordide alba; anfr. convexiusculi, 
costis longitudinalibus, arcuatis, tenuibus (in anfr. ultimo 18-19 
sensim ad basim attenuatis) instructi, suturamque infra inter 
costas sulco fortiter punctato ineequaliter divisi, et spiraliter con- 
cinne sulcati; anfr. ultimus subelongatus; apertura angusta; 
columella fere recta; canalis brevis. 

Long. 22 mill., diam. 5; apertura long. 6, diam. 2. 


Hab. Bruinie Island, south coast of New Guinea,35 fathoms, 
clay bottom (J. Macgillivray, Esq., Voy. ‘Rattlesnake’). 


A pretty, whitish species, furnished with slender, curved 
jongitudinal ribs, and neatly transversely striated, the striations 
or furrows being finer in the last three or four whorls than in 
the rest; and the infrasutural belt is divided off by a spiral 
series of deep punctures, there being one in each interstice be- 
tween the ribs. 


Myurella miranda. 


M. testa elongata, subacuminata, albida, cretacea ; anfr. 11 convexi, 
costellis gracillimis numerosissimis (in anfr. ultimo 36—40) obliquis, 
longitudinalibus, et spiralibus (in anfr. primis 5, 2, in sequentibus 
5, 5-6, in ultimo 9-10) in locis intersectionum nodulosis, concinne 


268 Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebride. 


cancellati; cingulum suturale ex nodulis elongatis obliquis con- 
stans, punctorum serie notatum ; anfr. ultimus elongatus, sub- 
yentricosus; columella subrecta, cauda biplicata. 

Long. 26 mill., diam. 6; apertura long. 6 mill., diam. 3. 


Hab. Malacca. 


There is no species in the family with which this one can 
be compared as regards affinity. The beautiful cancellated 
surface, formed by numerous longitudinal and a few spiral li- 
rations, which form little bead-lke nodules at the points of 
intersection, the convexity of the whorls, the infrasutural belt 
formed of oblong nodules, and the peculiarity of the few upper 
whorls, which, being encircled by but one or two spiral ribs, 
have an angular outline, are characters which at once define 
this from all other species. 


Myurella contracta. 


M. testa parva, turrita, cinerea; anfr. 12, planiusculi, costis longitu- 
dinalibus validis, leviter arcuatis, obliquis (in anfr. ultimo 17-18 
ad basim continuis) instructi, sulcis parvis, transversis, pluribus, 
profundis costas inter et levibus costas supra, ornati, et infra 
suturam punctorum serie inter costas inequaliter divisi; anfr. 
ultimus basi contractus ; apertura parva, fusca ; columella obliqua, 
labio callo crassiusculo fusco juncta. 

Long. 17 mill., diam. 35. 

Hab. ? 


The strong ribs (made somewhat nodulous by being cut 
across by the numerous transverse sulci, which are rather 
deep in the interstices), the basal contraction of the last whorl 
(which is broader at the suture than inferiorly), the small brown 
aperture, and the callosity on the columella (which extends to 
the juncture of the outer lip with the body-whorl) are the 
chief distinguishing marks by which this peculiar shell may 
be recognized. 


Myurella granulosa. 


M. testa subulata, brunnea, infra suturam zona angusta cinerea cincta ; 
anfr. 14— ?, elongati, convexiusculi, costis obsoletis nodulosis (su- 
perne precipue) longitudinalibus subpallidis (in antr. ultimo 13) 
instructi, lirisque spiralibus 4-5 obsoletis, costarum nodulos con- 
nectentibus (infima suture contigua), cincti; anfr. ultimus elon- 
gatus, subventricosus; columella subrecta. 

Long. 26 mill., diam. 6. 


Hab. Japan (A. Adams). 


This is a very peculiar species, quite distinct from any other 
belonging to the family. It is chiefly characterized by the in- 


Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebride. 269 


distinct ribs, which are ornamented with four or five palish 
nodules, the upper one being the largest, these being con- 
nected by thé same number of faint spiral lire, and also by the 

‘uniform brown colour with the narrow ashy zone below the 
suture. None of the few specimens from which this description 
is prepared appears to be quite mature. 


Myurella paucistriata. 


M. testa parva, subulata, subturrita, flavida, zona alba infra suturam 
et altera in anfr. ultimi medio cincta; anfr. 16-17, planiusculi, 
costis longitudinalibus validis, subacutis, superne nodosis (in anfr. 
ultimo 13 basim versus obsoletis) instructi, sulco parvo, inter costas 
preecipue conspicuo, insequaliter divisi, et striis spiralibus 3—4 inter 
costas (anfr. ultimo pluribus) insculpti; columella recta, vix 
contorta. | 

Long. 19 mill., diam. 4. 


Hab. Ovalau, Fiji Islands, 5 fathoms in sard (J. Macgil- 
livray). : 

The upper half of each whorl is white, and the lower part 
yellowish ; the body-whorl has a white zone at the periphery ; 
the strong ribs are somewhat nodulous above, which appearance 
is produced by being partially cut across by a slight spiral 
furrow, deepest between the ribs; the spiral strize are deep and 
far apart, three’or four in number in the upper whorls, and 
about twelve in the last. 


Myurella capensis. 


M. testa parva, subulata, albida, zona angusta dilute fusca infra 
suturam, et altera ad anfractuum bases costis albidis interrupta, 
et anfr. ultimi basi fuscescente ; anfr. 9-10, superne constricti, in- 
ferne convexiusculi, costis validis, leviter flexuosis et obliquis (in 
anfr. ultimo circiter 14 versus basim obsoletis) instructi, spiraliter 
exilissime striati, superne paululum infra suturam sulco obsoleto 
depressi; columella subrecta, vix contorta. 

Long. 19 mill., diam. 5, 


Hab, Port Elizabeth, Cape of Good Hope. 


This species is chiefly remarkable on account of the brownish 
depression a little below the sutural line, which gives the out- 
line of the whorls a somewhat constricted appearance in that 
part. The last whorl, besides the brownish depression, has a 
faint band of the same colour around the middle, conspicuous 
only between the ribs, and the base also brownish. 


Myurella pumilio. 


M. testa parva, subulata, sordide alba, infra suturam zona fusca, et 
in anfr. ultimo zonis duabus fuscis, altera supra, altera peripheriam 


270 =©Mr. E. A. Smith on new Species of Terebride. 


infra, ornata; anfr. 11, convexiusculi, costis validis, arcuatis, vix 
obliquis, superne subtuberculatis (in anfr. ultimo 18-20 sensim 
ad basim obsoletis) instructi, et transversim inter costas exilissime 
striati, infra suturam leviter contracti; apertura parva, zonis* 
duabus fuscis intus ornata; columella paululum’ obliqua, fusca, 
labio callo tenui juncta. 

Long. 10 mill., diam. 23. 

Hab. ? 

A very small species, chiefly distinguished by the narrow 
brown band beneath the suture and the two which encircle the 
body-whorl. There is a slight depression at the upper part 
of the whorls, but scarcely forming an infrasutural belt ; and 
the upper ends of the ribs terminate somewhat nodulously. 


Myurella tantilla. 

M. testa minuta, elongata, alba, zona angusta dilute brunnea suturam 
infra (in anfr. ultimo duabus, altera suturam infra, altera periphe- 
riam infra) cincta; anfr. 8, convexiusculi, superne paululum 
constricti, costis longitudinalibus, arcuatis, validis, superne tuber- 
culatis (in anfr. ultimo 15 fere basi continuis), instructi, trans- 
versim inter costas concinne striati; apertura parva; columella 
curta, subrecta; canalis brevissimus. 

Long. 63 mill., diam. 21. 

Hab. Japan (A. Adams). 


This is one of the smallest, if not the most minute, species 
in the genus. There isa slight contraction or spiral depression 
a little below the suture, which, traversing the ribs near their 
upper extremities, produces the appearance of a series of 
nodules; this feature, together with the small size and the 
style of marking, will easily define this form. 


Subgen. ABRETIA. 


Abretia antarctica. 


A. testa parva, breviter subulata, fusca, inter costas epidermide tenui 
 eretaceo induta; anfr. 10, convexiusculi, nec dimidiati nec trans- 

versim striati, costis longitudinalibus, fuscis, arcuatis, obliquis, 
subremotis (in anfr. ultimo 13 versus medium obsoletis) instructi, 
incrementique lineis striati; apertura parva, fusca; columella 
brevis, subrecta. 

Long. 14 mill., diam. 44. 
Hab, Antarctic region. 


This species, of which there are six examples in the 
Museum, was obtained during one of the Antarctic expeditions. 
The precise locality is not attached to them; but they have 
that peculiarity (a dull ashy or chalky aspect) which is so 
usual in shells from those freezing latitudes. 


On the French Species of Geomalacus. 271 


The absence of all spiral sculpture, and the strong, arcuate, 
oblique plications or ribs are the chief points of distinction. 


Abretia brasiliensis. 

A, testa parva, elongata, polita, saturate castanea, infra suturam 
zona angusta flava ornata; anfr. 10, primi 2 subglobulares, ceeteri 
plani, plicis longitudinalibus superne tuberculis flavidis terminatis, 
(in anfr. ultimis duobus 15, inferne obsoletis) instructi, haud spi- 
raliter striati; anfr. ultimus brevis, subquadratus ; apertura parva, 
fusca ; columella brevissima. 


Var. omnino flavida. 
Long. 11 mill., diam. 3. 


Hab. Botafogo Bay, Rio de Janeiro (3 fathoms, sandy mud). 
Collected by J. Macgillivray, Esq., during the voyage of the 
‘ Rattlesnake.’ 


A very distinct species, at once recognized by the smallness 
of its size, the deep chestnut colour, with the yellow band 
below the suture, which tints the nodulous ends of the longi- 
tudinal ribs, and the shortness of the aperture and columella. 
There is no spiral furrow or depression below the suture. 


XXIX.—On the French Species of the Genus Geomalacus. By 
D. F. HeyNemann, President of the German Malacozoolo- 
gical Society, Frankfort-on-Maine. 


TuroucH Mr. T. A. Verkriizen of London I received a small 
parcel of living Geomalacus maculosus, Allman, from Ireland ; 
and haying carefully examined these, I am now enabled 
critically to investigate the statement of several French authors 
that this genus not only occurs in France, but is there repre- 
sented by various species. 

English authors started an hypothesis that the animals, with 
the plants they live amongst (and which are only met with in 
the south-west of Ireland), were of Asturian or Spanish origin. 

Although it had not been proved that G'eomalacus does occur 
on the Pyrenean peninsula until Lucas von Heyden found one 
specimen in the Asturias, during his entomological journey in 
Spain in 1868, and forwarded it to Germany, the above hypo- 
thesis of British authors was nevertheless adopted in 1867 b 
the French malacologists Bourguignat and Mabille ; and they 
even went to the length of taking as an established fact what 
had been proposed as a supposition only. 

Geomalacus having thus been once established as of Spanish 
origin, its distribution must, according to the ideas of these 
authors, have taken place by way of France only. All at 


272 Mr. D. F. Heynemann on the French 


once they discovered consequently in the forest of Meudon, 
near Paris, what they wished to find, not only the traces of the 
migratory Geomalacus, but even three new or entirely un- 
known species, which were described by Mabille, in his mono- 
graph of this genus published in the ‘Revue et Magasin de 
Zoologie,’ 1867, p. 53, as Geomalacus Bourguignati, Paladil- 
hianus, and Mottesserianus. From that time new species con- 
tinued ever increasing, the names of which may as well be 
passed over in silence ; and this fabrication attained an alarming 
extent in France. The statements were at first so positively 
made by our French contemporaries, that even the incredulous 
(including myself) almost believed in the existence of this 
genus in France; but those who with any attention read my 
short treatise in the ‘Nachrichtsblatt der deutschen malaco- 
zoologischen Gesellschaft,’ 1869, p. 165, entitled “ Zur Kennt- 
niss von Geomalacus,” will readily see what serious doubts I 
entertained upon the subject. Our French neighbours did not 
favour us with any drawings of their new species, although 
they described the English drawings as ‘ déplorables.” 

I had myself never before seen a live Geomalacus ; neither 
could I obtain any French proofs, in spite of the pains I took 
for this purpose. It will therefore, I trust, be deemed excusable 
that I expressed doubts where I could not contradict by facts. 
But now, since I received the living Geomalacus and have had 
an opportunity of examining the animal, the question assumes 
a different aspect. 

The French so-called species do not belong at all to Geo- 
malacus ; and those who may still entertain a doubt on this 
point need but inspect the drawings, which have since appeared 
in Baudon’s ‘Mémoire sur les Limaciens du département de 
l’Oise’ (Beauvais, 1871), of Geomalacus Mabilli, Baudon, and 
G. hiemalis, Drouet. ‘These drawings are excellent; and for 
this very reason we at once detect in them our old acquaintance 
Arion melanocephalus, Faure-Biguet, which likewise has lately 
been recognized as our common Arion empiricorum, Fér., in 
its younger state of growth, by Seibert (see ‘Nachrichtsblatt 
der deut. mal. Ges.’ December 1872). 

These drawings of Baudon are alone sufficient entirely and 
effectually to upset at once the famous myth of a French 
Geomalacus. This genus has not as yet been discovered in 
France; and all the species described as French are in all pro- 
bability not different from Arion empiricorum. I very much 
question whether the French authors have ever seen a living 
Geomalacus ; and for their own justification I would deny the 
fact, because they could never otherwise have entertained the 
idea of turning a young Arion into a Geomalacus, although it 


Species of the Genus Geomalacus. 273 


is no wonder that, when once an erroneous generic designation 
had been given to a young Arion, the number of species could 
be most readily increased. 

The substitution has doubtless been no easy task for Mabille 
in the composition of his monograph ; but he must have formed 
for himself a totally different conception of the animal, which 
had hitherto been described by English authors only, though 
with sufficient distinctness. In his generic diagnosis Mabille 
states that the animal is ornamented with an infinite number 
(“une infinité’’) of minute black, yellow, golden, white or 
silvery dots, which, by the by, is by no means correct; an& 
in his improved specific diagnosis he even amends the original 
English descriptions in so cool a manner that I am astonished 
that English malacologists should not have replied to it. 
Mabille says, in the same diagnosis, that the English drafts- 
men, instead of covering the body of this slug with a multi- 
tude of white dots, had contracted the same upon the wrinkles, 
and, to facilitate the labour, had united them into one single spot 
on the different wrinkles. And this he states to be the reason 
why the Geomalacus appeared to be a black animal with lon- 
gitudinal white ridges or hillocks, which he says is quite 
incorrect ! 

This statement of itself suffices to convince us that Mabille 
has never seen a living G'eomalacus; for what he supposes to 
be altogether incorrect is precisely the actual fact. The G'eo- 
malacus is not covered with white or yellow dots, but with 
actual longitudinal spots extending on the back of the animal 
over one or two of the wrinkles. These spots are even dis- 
tributed on a black ground in such a manner that they might 
easily be counted; and the drawings of Allman (Andrews) are 
quite correct. 

Mabille’s deseription of the respiratory orifice as being con- 
siderably in front (‘trés-antérieur”’) corresponds admirably 
with that of a young Arion. The original diagnosis says, “a 
Limace (differt) situ anteriori spiraculi;” for in Limax the 
respiratory orifice is situated behind the middle of the mantle, 
and not in front of it. 

Further, incorrect is Mabille’s statement respecting the 
internal shell—namely, “Limacelle délicate, excessivement 
plate;” and, further, “Sa Limacelle mincecomme une pellicule.” 
The original diagnosis says ‘ ‘Testa solida ;” and, indeed, its 
thickness attains almost a third of its length, and nearly the 
half of its breadth. The shell is consequently by no means 
“délicate,” and much less “mince”’ or “plate,” but actually 
very solid—in fact, as solid as we rarely meet with internal 
hells, to whatever genus they may belong. 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 18 


274 On the French Species of Geomalacus. 


It only remains for me to add a few words, in order to dispose 
of the remainder of Mabille’s species, created only to swell the 
above-mentioned monograph. These are designated:— Geoma- 
lacus Andrews?, Mabille; G. anguiformis, Morelet ; and G. in- 
termedius, Normand. Allman, Andrews, and others repeatedly 
name a white-spotted variety, the same which in my treatise 
“ Ueber Geomalacus” (Malacozool. Bliitter, 1873), with draw- 
ings, I called var. Allmanni, in contradistinction to the more 
frequently occurring yellow-spotted variety, which is the typi- 
cal form. Andrews calls the white-spotted form simply “ the 
white variety ;” and on this white variety (it should be white- 
spotted variety) Mabille writes as follows :—‘‘Cette nouvelle 
espéce, que nous dédions & Monsieur William Andrews de 
Dublin, et que tous les auteurs Anglais ont confondue avec le 
maculosus, se distingue de cette espece par un corps blanchatre, 
parsemé d’une multitude de petits points noiratres. C’est lin- 
verse chez l’espéce précédente (maculosus).”” He evidently mis- 
construes the original meaning ; and the result is the new species 
Andrewst. Jeffreys, in his ‘British Conchology,’ says, “I sus- 
pect that the Limax anguiformis of Morelet (Moll. Port.) also 
belongs to the present genus, if, deed, it is not the same 
species as ours.” ‘This simple notice suflices to settle the 
Geomalacus anguiformis, Morelet, whose specific diagnosis is 
any thing but improved by the all but useless drawing of 
Morelet. Finally, Normand ascribes to his Arion intermedius 
an internal shell; and thus we obtain a G'eomalacus tnter- 
medius, Normand. 

It is to be regretted that the rubbish of synonymy is thus 
needlessly multiplied to an extraordinary degree by such in- 
genuity in creating new species and even new genera—on 
which head see other reports. 

Frankfort-on-Maine, January 1873. 


The preceding short treatise was sent to me by D. F. Hey- 
nemann, Esq., with a request to publish a translation of the 
same in the ‘Annals,’ if deemed of interest on this side of the 
Channel. Having consulted J. Gwyn Jeffreys, Esq., F.R.S., 
&e., and obtained his affirmation on this point, I have much 
pleasure in submitting Mr. Heynemann’s discussion to 
British malacologists, and beg to observe that in translating 
Mr. Heynemann’s report from the original German I have 
adhered as closely to the sense of his delineations as 1s con- 
sistent with clearness and intelligibleness, and must refer those 
who wish to read the original to the ‘Malacozoologische 
Blitter,’ where Mr. Heynemann’s monograph on the genus 
Geomalacus will appear with drawings. 


On a new Species of Hexactinellid Sponge. 275 


I take this opportunity to state, in reference to my report in 
the ‘Annals’ for November 1872, that the white variety of 
Tectura testédinalis, Miill., of which I obtained many fine spe- 
cimens in Iceland, is likewise met with on the North-British 
coasts ; and, possessing seemingly as strong claims to varietal 
distinction as many other named varieties do, I trust my pro- 
posed designation may not be deemed inappropriate. 

I may also call attention to a slight printing-error which 
occurred on page 373, viz. Punctura instead of Puncturella. 


2 Ampton Place, W.C. T. A. VERKRUZEN. 


XXX.—Description of Labaria hemtspherica, Gray, a new 
Species of Hexactinellid Sponge, with Observations on tt 
and the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges generally. By H. J. 
CarTER, F.R.S. &e. 


AT the request of Dr. Gray I have examined Labaria hemi- 
spherica, the sponge sent by Dr. A. B. Meyer to the British 
Museum from Singapore (‘ Annals,’ vol. xi. p. 235, March 
1873) ; and the following is its general and microscopic de- 
scription. 

Labaria hemispherica, Gray. 

Sponge sarcospiculous, hexactinellid, now dry and colour- 
less. Cup-like, massive, hemispherical, convexo-concave. 
Sides thick, margin obtuse, round, slightly contracted, con- 
cavity shallow. Surface of interior even, uniform ; that of the 
convexity or exterior the same, but interrupted here and there 
by the presence of linear spicules, which project microscopically 
in a line round the outer border of the margin, then disappear, 
leaving a plain convex surface, but reappear towards the 
lower third, where, gradually becoming longer and congregated 
into small tufts, they finally end in a large stem-like bundle, 
which on issuing from the base of the sponge is half an inch 
wide, and spreads out into a tassel two inches long. Vents? 
(see Obs.). General structure of the body chiefly composed of 
smooth nail-like spicules, with four-armed heads, of different 
sizes, varying from such as can be easily seen with the un- 
assisted eye down to microscopic minuteness, all knit together 
by the nail-like shaft being directed inwards, and the crucial 
arms expanded and interweaving with each other horizontally ; 
thus, with the largest spicules on the surface, and their arms 
bent a little inwards, the whole are bound down, as well over 
the concavity as over the convexity, into a firm basketwork 
with even exterior. Internal structure, as seen by transmitted 
light through the surface, cavernous or largely rencguons with 


276 My. H. J. Carter on a new 


the tortuous tubular cavities coming close to the surface on 
each side. Microscopic structure of the surface also composed 
of the same form of nail-like spicules, but exceedingly minute, 
and with their arms all spiniferous, not smooth, and their 
shafts directed outwards instead of inwards; their crucial 
heads applied to the arms of the larger body-spicules, or so 
inserted into the dermal sarcode filling up the interspaces of 
the latter as to form, by the intercrossing of their arms, a 
minute rectangular network or veil, in the interstices of which 
respectively the pores are situated,—the shafts of these spicules, 
which are just visible to the naked eye, being so thickly 
spined, so numerous, and so close together all over the sponge, 
both inside and out, as to present a continuous white layer, 
interrupted only by the heads of the largest nail-like spicules 
of the body and the projecting tufts of long linear spicules 
towards its lower part: Spicules of five kinds, viz. :—1. The 
nail-like spicule of the body, which is smooth in all its parts, 
and glistening throughout, consisting of a shaft of variable 
length and head of four arms, also variable in length in the 
same spicule and generally ; arms slightly curved towards the 
shaft and parting at right angles from the end of the latter, 
leaving a rectangular smooth area in the centre, which, from 
its glassy transparency and dark appearance in situ, forms, 
with a portion of the arms which is also uncovered by the 
white dermal crust, a remarkable feature. 2. The linear or 
fusiform spicule, which may be smooth throughout or partially 
or entirely spined. It varies in length from microscopic 
minuteness to two inches long, the latter or long ones alone 
possessing a double hook at the free extremity. The spines 
of the minute forms vary in their amount of inclination to 
the shaft, being in some spicules almost parallel with it, while 
in others they are widely divergent, and for the most part 
directed from the sponge, but not always. In the larger and 
longer forms, of which there are also two kinds, the shaft is 
either smooth up to its termination in the double hook, or at 
first smooth, then spiniferous, and just before it terminates in 
the double hook smooth again, the spines being directed 
towards the sponge. At the commencement of the spiniferous 
portion in the latter (for that in the sponge is comparatively 
smooth) the spines are wide apart and hardly perceptible, but 
by degrees increase in size, number, and approximation as the 
shaft of the spicule increases in size, when they may be 
observed to form a spiral line round it, much like the bracket- 
steps of a flagstaff, which again passes into single separate 
spines, as above stated, just before its termination, the shaft 
also again reappearing for a short distance in a smooth but 


Species of Hexactinellid Sponge. 277 


diminished form, which soon expands into a flat portion that 
terminates in the double hook,—the double hook being com- 
pressed and” crescentic in the smooth form, and twice the 
breadth of that in the spiniferous ones, where, on the other 
hand, the body is a little thicker and the hooks a little more 
recurved, still always opposite. 3. The minute surface-spicule 
is also nail-like, and consists of a bushy plumose shaft fur- 
nished with four rays parting from the fixed end of the former 
at right angles, and directed a little forwards or away from 
the shaft, cup-like,—the plumose appearance of the shaft 
arising from the presence of a number of long spines, which, 
originating all round it, are inclined towards its free or 
pointed extremity; while the arms are equally spined, but 
with short conical eminences, especially towards their abruptly 
pointed extremities : among these spicules there are also two 
kinds, viz. one thick, short, and stout, and the other com- 
paratively long and slender, with the shaft slightly curved or 
turned to one side. 4. The birotulate spicule, consisting of a 
straight shaft, sparsely spinous in the centre, and expanding 
at each end into eight blades or arms, which are altogether 
recurved dome-like towards the centre of the shaft. 5. A 
minute hexaradiate spicule, the arms of which are equal, 
opposite, and furnished with three or four spines of unequal 
length, and irregularly disposed towards the extremities.—The 
smooth nail-like spicule, No. 1, is confined to the body of the 
sponge, where it forms the chief part of that structure; while 
the long arms of the larger ones, which are confined to the 
surface both on the outside and inside of the cup, have their 
extremities incurved and buried amongst the surrounding 
ones. ‘The second, linear or fusiform spicules in their minuter 
form are confined to the body, where they are arranged vertically, 
and for the most part parallel to, and in company with, the 
vertical shafts of the nail-like spicules, appearing, as before 
stated, in a line round the outer border of the margin of the 
cup, then disappearing on the convexity of the body, and re- 
appearing in their largest forms towards its lower third, 
finally ending in the thick long tuft at the base. No. 3, the 
minute plumose nail-like spicule, is confined to the surface, 
where the concavity formed by the advanced direction of the 
arms of the head is applied, through the dermal sarcode, to 
the arms of the large nail-like spicules of the body, or, as 
before stated, is fixed in the dermal sarcode between the 
interstices of the latter, where the arms lie parallel to each 
other for their whole extent. Of the exact position of No. 4, 
the birotulate spicule, | am not certain, because the surface 
ones have for the most part fallen out ; but, judging from its 


278 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges. 


position in other similar sponges, and of those which still 
remain in Labaria, it should be interspersed among the 
plumose spicules, while No. 5 may be dispersed throughout 
the body generally. 

Average size of the largest spicules of each kind :—In No. 
1 the length of the arms varies in the same spicule, so that 
the longest shaft and longest arm generally may be set down 
at about 3-12ths inch long, with a thickness at the base of 
about 25-1800ths inch. No. 2 in its longest form appears to 
be about two inches, with a maximum thickness in the shaft 
of about 7-1800ths inch; while the spread of the double hook 
at the free extremity in the smooth form is about 38-1800ths, 
and in the spiculiferous one about 17-1800ths inch. The 
short stout form of No. 3 (the surface-spicule) averages about 
10-1800ths long, and the slender variety about 15-1800ths. 
No. 4 in its largest size is about 15-1800ths long, and No. 5 
(the microscopic spicule) about 8-1800ths inch in diameter 
from end to end of its arms. Size of specimen :—Greatest 
horizontal diameter outside 121ths inch, vertical 1,4;ths 
inch; diameter of outlet of basal tuft $4ths inch; diameter 
of outer margin of concavity 1}2ths inch; greatest diameter 
of concavity 144ths inch; thickness of wall of cup 3;ths 
inch ; diameter of basal tuft of spicules about +8ths inch. 

Hab. Marine. 

Loc. Unknown, from Singapore. 

Obs. In the above description nothing has been said about 
the position of the ‘ vents,” chiefly from the fact that there 
is no appearance of any distinct ones in the concavity of the 
sponge; and although 8-10 holes appear at irregular distances 
round the outer border of the margin of the cup, and about 
twice as many scattered over its outer surface or convexity, 
still, from these having been artificially filled with bristle-like 
fragments of long stout spicules from another sponge, for the 
purpose hereafter mentioned, I am by no means certain that 
these holes are not artificial From analogy one would feel 
inclined to say that they are artificial; for, as a rule, into the 
concavity (erroneously termed “ cloacal ’’), whether cup-like or 
tubular (in the great ‘‘ Neptune’s cup,” in which a child 
might sit down, or in that of the caleareous sponge Grantia 
ciliata, into which the head of a pin can hardly be inserted), 
the vents chiefly open and the pores are chiefly outside. 
As instances of this in the sarcospiculous Hexactinellide, 
with which we are now chiefly concerned, Holtenia Carpentert 
and Rossella velata, W. Thomson, and Crateromorpha Meyert 
and Rossella philippinensis, Gray, if not also Pheronema 
Anne, Leidy, and P. Grayt, Kent, may be cited. In Meyerina 


Mr. H. J. Carter on the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges. 279 


claviformis *, Gray, and Hyalonema (Carteria, Gray), where 
the cavity is very narrow and contracted in the former, and in 
the latter is ®ccupied by the conical end of the glass cord, 
which actually passes through the entire sponge so as to 
project beyond its summit, the ‘“ vents” are, respectively, 
partially and entirely on the outside; indeed in Hyalonema 
there 7s no concavity. What the condition may be in the 
great Askonema setubalense, Kent, I do not know, not having 
any thing but a shred of this sponge, sent to me by my kind 
friend Dr. J. E. Gray, from a portion which was brought 
from Lisbon to England by Mr. Kent. Where the great 
specimen of Askonema, about a yard wide at the mouth and 
twenty-four inches high, may be, which was dredged up off 
Cape St. Vincent while Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys superintended 
the operations on board H.M.S. ‘ Porcupine’ in 1870 
(‘ Depths of the Sea,’ by Prof. W. Thomson, p. 428, fig. 67), 
I am ignorant. It is not with me; and therefore I am not 
answerable for its description. 

Still, as regards the vents of Labaria, it might be observed 
that if there is no appearance of them in the cup, it is 
not improbable that the holes on the convexity may have 
been artificially made. Again, it may be stated that the 
intervals between the arms of the nail-like spicules of the 
surface in the convexity are so large, and the short plumose 
ends of the surface-spicules so inadequate to close them, that 
some of these interspaces may have served for vents. But the 
absence of sarcode throughout this sponge, from the cause 
hereafter to be mentioned, fails to supply that roundness to its 
openings which otherwise would make the vents unmista- 
kable. 

As regards, again, the “pores”? of Labaria, analogy here 
leads to the inference that they existed in the interstices of the 
reticulation formed on the surface by the arms of the surface- 
spicules, as above stated. 

We now come to the specific characters of this sponge ; and 
these rest chiefly on the form of the double hook at the end of 
the smooth, long, anchoring-spicule of the base, and on the 
spiniferous condition of the arms of the minute surface-spicule 
No. 8. Fortunately there is no doubt about the latter; for in 
Hyalonema, Holtenia, and Pheronema, Gray, with which these 
spicules might otherwise be confounded, the arms are smooth 
and not spiniferous. Even in Meyerina, also, they are so 
scantily spined that they might be almost termed smooth. 

But the case is not so clear with respect to the double hook at 

* For a description of Meyerina claviformis and Crateromorpha Meyeri, 
see ‘ Annals,’ vol. x. p. 110 (August 1872). 


280 Mr. H.J.Carter on the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges. 


the extremity of the smooth anchoring-spicule, since in Huplec- 
tella, Hyalonema, Holtenia, and Meyerina, whose anchoring- 
tufts respectively are composed of the two kinds of spicule, viz. 
smooth and spiniferous, the termination of the extremity in the 
former appears to be always absent. In none of these sponges 
have I ever been able to find it; and my examinations have 
often been repeated in different specimens varying in size 
from a quarter of an inch, in some of those dredged up on 
board H.M.S. ‘ Porcupine,’ to the adult forms obtained from 
this and other sources. ‘The hooked extremity of the spin- 
ferous anchoring-spicules in all the sponges last-mentioned I 
have been able to obtain, but never one of the smooth anchor- 
ing-spicules until I came to the specimen of Labaria under 
consideration, wherein both smooth and spiniferous anchoring- 
spicules still, to a great extent, retain their respective hook- 
like terminations. 

It has been already stated that the double hook at the end 
of the smooth anchoring-spicule in Labaria has twice the 
spread of that terminating the spniferous one ; and if this were 
the case in Hyalonema and Meyerina respectively, where the 
smooth anchoring-spicules so much exceed the others in size, 
as well as in Luplectella and Holtenia, where they are all 
much longer and larger than in Labaria, it is no wonder that 
they were left in the mud where these sponges originally 
grew, or were subsequently broken off by “smoothing down 
the root-like lock,” to make it look more beautiful! or, indeed, 
torn off by the ruthless “tangle.” 

Still further, with reference to the terminal hooks of the 
spiniferous anchoring-spicule of Labartia, I think I can 
perceive a microscopic difference in form between them and 
those of Meyerina, which they so much resemble, that might 
be given in a figure more satisfactorily than it can be de- 
scribed, because it is so trifling. But however close the 
resemblance may be here, the difference between the ter- 
minations of these spicules in Labaria and those of Holtenia, 
and of Pheronema Grayt as figured by Mr. Kent (Monthly 
Microscop. Journ., Nov. 1870, pl. xiii. fig. 16), is so strongly 
marked that it is impossible (of course, under the microscope) 
to confound the two,—that of Holtenia and Pheronema Grayi 
being in the form of a harpoon, while that of Labaria tends 
to the form of a crescent; that is to say, the spines of the 
double hook in the former are much recurved, while in the 
latter they are much more expanded. I do not wish to insist 
upon these differences strongly, but state them only as the 
result of my examinations. 

So rare is it to find any of the spicules composing the cord 


"Mr. H. J. Carter on the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges. 281 


in Hyalonema with the terminal hooks present, that I have 
only observed it in four instances, and all in one small speci- 
men, of which the body is half an inch long and the cord of the 
same length. They occur close to the body, while those which 
were at the ends of the longer spicules forming the cord have 
all, as usual, been broken off. In this case, too, they are on 
the spined and not on the smooth spicules. As regards the 
position of the hooks, they are double, and both on one side 
like a claw in two of the instances, and in the other two triple, 
but two of these appear to be opposite, anchor-like. Fortu- 
nately they are not all the same in all four instances, or the 
inference might have been that the terminal hooks of these 
spicules in Hyalonema were all on one side, claw-like, or all 
opposite, anchor-like, as the case might have been; still the 
third spine in the latter also gives a lateral predominance. 
‘The specimen, which is mounted, was dredged up on board 
H.M.S. ‘ Poreupine,’ and sent to me by Prof. W. Thomson. 
It bears no polype on the cord. 

The little crucial-headed spicule of the surface in Labaria, 
with its plumose shaft ready to be depressed as the areze about 
which it is situated may require to be more or less closed, is 
common to the sponge part of Hyalonema (Carteria, Gray), 
Holtenia, and Pheronema Grayi, and probably also to Phero- 
nema Anne, Leidy, with the exception of the arms being thickly 
spined instead of smooth, as before mentioned. 

Then No. 4, the birotulate spicule (“multidentate,” Bbk., 
f. 60), of all sizes below its largest form (for it should be 
borne in mind that they grow from small to large), is also 
specifically characteristic of Hyalonema, Holtenia, and Phe- 
ronema Grayt. No other sareospiculous hexactinellid that 
I know of possesses this spicule; and therefore I am at a 
loss to conceive how Schmidt should have named the sponge 
described and figured by him in his ‘ Atlantisch. Spongien- 
fauna’ (p. 14, Taf. 1. figs. 1-6) ‘¢ Holtenia.” 

In Rossella velata, W. Thomson, and Rossella philippinensis, 
Gray (which are sarcospiculous, hexactinellids) ,we may observe 
“the minute, equiarmed, hexradiate spicule” to pass from (1st) 
the equiarmed hexactinellid with bifurcated and pointed extre- 
mities, to (2nd) the same with capitate extremities (“ spinulo- 
stellate,” Bbk.,f.190), and, lastly (3rd) ,intoan undescribed form, 
where the endsof the arms are terminated by a small, conical, tu- 
bercled inflation, presenting a short straight spine on the apex, 
which spine is surrounded by almost imnumerable linear 
filaments rising each from one of the tubercles, attaining 
various heights, and bending outward like the expanded 
petals of a tubular flower, forming one of the most exquisite 


282 Mr. H. J. Carter on the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges. 


objects in nature. It might be termed “pappiform,” flexed and 
simple, in contra-distinction to another kind, in which the 
filaments are straight and capitate. A similar spicule, though 
not so complicated, is arrived at through a similar transition in 
both the Huplectelle, viz. those forms respectively with and 
without silicified sarcode ; but here the ends of the filaments, 
seldom more than 8, are capitate and spined on the outer side, 
claw-like. This form (the “ floricomo” of Bbk., f. 194) also 
occurs in the two sarcospiculous hexactinellid sponges in the 
museum of the Jardin des Plantes, named respectively by 
Prof. W. Thomson Habrodictyon speciosum and H. corbicula 
(‘ Annals,’ 1868, vol. i. p. 122 &c., pl. iv. f. 1 e). 

(In Hyalonema, too, the birotulate spicule also sometimes 
takes on a hexactinellid form, which, of course, if possible, ren- 
ders it a still more beautiful object.) 

But the transition to which I have first alluded seems to be 
characteristic of Rossella, and the third or florescent form so like 
that figured by Schmidt (‘Grundziige emer Spongienfauna 
des atlantischen Gebietes,’ pl.i. f. 6), that, m the absence 
of the ‘‘ birotulate spicule,” it seems to me that Holtenta Pour- 
talesit must be more nearly allied to Rossella than to Holtenta 
Carpentert, Thomson, more particularly, too, as the large 
spicule of the surface (op. cit. pl. 1. f. 4) is furnished with large 
spines, in which it agrees with the same kind of spicule in 
fossella antarctica (Ann. 1872, vol. ix. pl. xxi. figs. 1-4) 
(of course, this genus has been established since the publi- 
cation of the ‘ Atlantisch. Spongienfauna’ in 1870) ; while, 
on the other hand, the minute nail-like spicule with crucial 
head and plumose shaft which Schmidt figures in connexion 
with Sympagella nux (op. cit. pl. i. f. 2), and alludes to as 
characteristic also of the little specimen of the hexactinellid 
for which he has provisionally suggested the name of “ Hol- 
tenia saccus’’ (op.cit. p. 15), is, to a certain extent, characteristic 
of the Hexactinellide possessing the dbirotulate spicule—but 
not altogether, as the partial extension of the sixth arm, or of 
the shaft &c., shows. 

The minute, equiarmed, hexaradiate spicule with long irre- 
gular spines at the ends of the arms in Labaria (No. 5), 1s also 
common in Meyerina, and may be the type in these sponges of 
the “ 1st” form of it that I have described in Rossella (p. 281). 
It is chiefly upon the presence in great numbers of this form, 
somewhat modified in Habrodictyon corbicula, that Prof. W. 
Thomson has been induced, provisionally, to separate this 
species from his Habrodictyon speciosum (Ann. /.c. pl. iv. 
f. 2a). But this kind of spicule occurs in too many of these 
sponges and too much modified ever to be of any specific value. 


Mr. H. J. Carter on the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges. 283 


Add to this the presence of little, clear, silicified spheres, 
formed of concentric layers round a minute cavity or cell, which 
have not been mentioned in the above description of Labaria 
because they appear to be rather accidental than normal pro- 
ducts, receiving elucidation from a new species of Dictyocy- 
lindrus among sponges collected by Col. Pike, U.S. C. at the 
Mauritius, and forwarded to Prof. Dickie, of Aberdeen, who 
sent them on to me for examination, wherein such spheres 
abound in all degrees of elongation, passing at last into a 
lengthened spicule of the normal form,—thus showing that they 
are caused by arrest of development in the original ce//, which 
elongates itself normally into the entire spicule—but failing in 
this, continues to increase in size spherically by the addition of 
silicified concentric layers to its surface. 

As regards the sarcospiculous hexactinellid sponges called 
Lanuginella pupa, Sdt., and Aulodictyon Woodwardii, Kent, 
respectively, I am unaple to state any thing further than that, if 
young specimens of larger sponges, they must wait until the 
latter are found for their fully developed specific characters, 
while, if already adults, they have not yet been sufficiently 
described for this. 

There is aspicule, though, in Aulodictyon Woodwardit, Kent 
(op. ct. fig. 22), which, so far as my observation extends among 
the Hexactinellide, is peculiar to this species; but this is 
rather a vitreous than a sarcospiculous sponge, and belongs 
to the Aphrocallistide, of which I shall have more to say 
hereafter. 

Sympagella nux, Sdt., too, seems to be a compound of both 
sarcospiculous and vitreous Hexactinellide ; for part of its 
spicules are sheathed (like those of Muplectella aspergillum) in 
silicified sarcode or silicified horny substance, the rest being free. 
Still this is only a permanent condition of what takes place in 
all the vitreous sponges, where the spicules are formed first in the 
sarcode free, and then enclosed in silicified sarcode or silicified 
horny substance, as the case may be. The “ 3rd” form of 
minute, equiarmed, hexaradiate spicule, which I have described 
at p. 281 as being so beautiful, I have since found to be 
equally abundant in Sympagella, together with the 2nd or 
capitate one; so that, as at first thought, this is not peculiar 
to Rossella, and may be found to be still more common by 
further observation*. 

* T have just found, too, in a mounted specimen, that the form No. 3 
(at p. 281) Bio exists in Crateromorpha Meyeri, but with straight capitated 
“filaments,” instead of bent ones without heads, more like Schmidt’s 
figure of that in Holtenia Pourtalesii (‘ Atlantisch. Spongienfauna,’ pl. i. 


f.6). Crateromorpha and Rossella are very much allied in many other 
points, which I shall mention on a future occasion. 


284 Mr. H.J. Carter on the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges. 


Lastly, in the rough anchoring-spicules of the glass cord of 
Hyalonema, there is a feature well figured by Dr. Gray in his 
description of this beautiful object, in the ‘ Proceedings of the 
Zoological Society,’ as far back as 1857 (p..280), which re- 
ceives complete elucidation from corresponding spicules in 
Meyerina and Labaria, and which, from its resemblance to 
fractured layers of the spicule coming off in ragged circles, is 
apt to be mistaken for the latter, but which, in Meyerina and 
Labaria, is seen to resolve itself into a more lengthened spire 
of prominent processes like the bracket-steps of a flagstaff, only 
continuous. ‘This is chiefly apparent on the thickest part of 
the shaft, and may also be indistinctly observed in Hyalonema ; 
but on tracing the spire downwards, or towards the free end 
of the spicule, the bracket-like processes become each sur- 
mounted by a spine; then they pass into distinct separate 
spines, always recurved or directed towards the sponge, but 
still maintaining a spiral arrangement, which, lengthening out 
as the spines become more widely separated, finally ends with 
the last spine on the shaft. ‘Thus the abrupt part of the spiral 
line is always directed towards the sponge ; and in a small spe- 
cimen dredged up on board H.M.S. ‘ Porcupine,’ I observe that 
this feature is continuous throughout the body of the sponge 
(Carteria, Gray) to its very summit, where it may serve 
as much for attachment of the sponge as for anchoring it in 
the mud—being, too, at this period, as distinctly spined 
im the sponge-head as any similar spicule of Meyerina or 
Labaria &c. is out of it; indeed, here nothing but the form 
of the terminal hook distinguishes the spicule of Hyalonema 
at this period from that of Holtenia of a similar size. 

In Luplectella the famous ‘“‘cross’’ in the central canal of the 
long-spined spicule shows itself close to the last two spines of 
the shaft, while the canal afterwards terminates in a lash of 
branches in the midst of the many-spined terminal head. In 
the spined spicule of Meyerina a cross canal is seen in the head 
just before the central canal terminates, which may have re- 
lation to the two spines which are opposite. At all events 
there is no cross near the last spines of the shaft, as in Huplec- 
tella. The same is the case in both kinds of anchoring-spicule 
in Labaria. In Hyalonema I cannot say how the central 
canal terminates in the ends of the anchoring-spicules, as the 
only instances [ possess are in the mounted specimen to which 
I have alluded, which does not admit of being brought within 
quarter-of-an-inch focus, the microscopic power necessary for 
this determination. 

On the sponges whose horny substance and sarcode is silici- 
fied, viz. the Coralliospongiz, in part, of Dr. Gray, I hope to 


Mr. H. J . Carter on the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges. 285 


offer some remarks in my next paper, which will be on one of 
the specimens dredged up on board H.M.S. ‘ Porcupine ;’ and 
I think that I” may then be able to show the transition of 
_ Schmidt’s “ Corallistes”’ into his genus Pachastrella (Bower- 
bank’s Hymeniacidon Bucklandi), thence into Stelletta, and 
finally into Geodia,—thus confirming their separation from the 
vitreous Hexactinellide established by Schmidt, who has de- 
scribed and figured them under the family name of ‘ Lithistidee,” 
in his ‘Grundziige einer Spongienfauna des atlantischen 
Gebietes.’ 

I have stated above that the sarcode which chiefly holds the 
spicules of a sponge together, especially in its dried state, has 
in this specimen of Labaria been destroyed—and also that 
fragments of the long spicules of another sponge have been 
introduced into Labaria tor the purpose of deception, whereby 
it had become difficult to establish the position of the “vents.” 

Although, however, Labaria hemispherica has thus been 
much injured and disfigured, sufficient has been stated to show 
that enough still remains to establish its general form and chief 
specific characters with certainty. It is not a perfect specimen, 
from two causes: viz., first of all, the sarcode, as is commonly 
the case with sponges that have been allowed to get damp 
(and this is almost inevitable where the salt has not in the first 
instance been taken out of them by soaking in fresh water before 
they are finally dried), has been destroyed (by Mucoridec, pro- 
bably), which has thus deprived the spicules generally of their 
chief support ; and, secondly, the native who had the specimen 
for sale, finding that it was thus falling to pieces, and in order 
to make the most of it, took a bunch of the long spicules of 
Meyerina claviformis (for they are easily recognized), and 
making a tassel of them, four and a half inches long, by binding 
their upper ends together into a conical form with the fibre of 
some plant about the size of coarse thread, pushed this into the 
centre of the basal tuft of Labaria, and so into the body of the 
sponge, securing it there by thrusting in shorter fragments 
from the same source in groups all round the sides, which gave 
the sponge a cat-whiskered appearance, with a very large basal 
tuft. 

It was not possible to detect this fraud at first, as the end of 
the tassel was so completely concealed in the body of Labaria, 
and covered by its own natural basal tuft (which, as above 
stated, is only two inches in length), while the cat-whisker-like 
groups at the sides also appeared so natural that minute exami- 
nation and an acquaintance with the intimate structure of 
such sponges alone led to detection—rendered still more per- 
plexing by the absence of the sarcode in the sponge generally, 


286 Rey. Thomas R. R. Stebbing on a 


which, if present, would have held on the real spicules, and 
have allowed the false ones to be easily extracted, thus causing 
doubt as to which spicules did and which did not really belong 
to the sponge. 

At first the whiskered groups were observed to be composed 
of spicules far too robust for the size and nature of the sponge ; 
then it was found that their inner ends were in many instances 
passed through the body, above the bottom of the cup, and then 
that they were abruptly broken off at their concealed or inner 
ends instead of passing into a finely attenuated extremity. 
Many of the robust form of spicules in the basal tuft, too, 
were observed to be in size out of all proportion to the size and 
nature of Labaria; besides, afew which fell out were observed 
to be fragments of much longer ones. Finally, by turning 
aside a little of the basal tuft which really belongs to the sponge, 
and which appeared to be twisted out of place, the end of the 
tuft bound round with the fibre was discovered. 

I have thus noticed in detail this fraud in order that others 
may not be misled by similar practices ; while they should be 
discountenanced by those who deal with the natives for such 
sponges, as their object is to present a saleable rather than a 
natural specimen, and the practice will cease when they find 
that the latter is most valued. 


XXXI.—On a Crustacean of the Genus Zia. 
By the Rev. THomas R. R. Stespine, M.A. 


Tue little Crustacean represented in the accompanying figure 
I took last August in a ditch near Copthorn Common in 
Surrey. At the first glance it presents an obvious resem- 
blance to animals of the genus Philoscia (Latreille), which 
Spence Bate and Westwood, in their standard work ‘The 
British Sessile-eyed Crustacea,’ make synonymous with 
Koch’s genus Zia. ‘They introduce their description with the 
following remarks :—“ It is a curious circumstance that the 
animals of this genus, common as they are, and well described 
by Latreille and Zaddach, should have been unknown to 
Brandt, Lereboullet, and Milne-Edwards, who have affirmed 
that the genus ought to be re-united to Oniscus, whereas it is 
in fact more nearly allied in several respects to Ligia. ‘The 
typical species appears to have been figured by Koch under 
the name of Ligia melanocephala, which in his generic table 
he subsequently altered into the generic name of Zia, giving, 
however, fifteen joints to the antenne, the flagellum being 
represented as composed of ten articulations.” 

Upon examining my little Copthorner, I found, first of all, 


Crustacean of the Genus Zia. 287 


that the uropoda, or tail-appendages, were quite different, not 
only from those of any species of Philoscia described by 
Messrs. Bate arid Westwood, but also from those of any of the 
Aérospirantia described in their work. In the next place, it 
turned out that the antennz possessed fifteen joints, the 
flagellum being composed of ten articulations. My impres- 
sion that it must therefore belong, not to Philoscia, but to the 
genus Zia as described by Koch, has been kindly confirmed 
by Mr. Spence Bate, who will himself in due time publish a 
communication on the subject. 


A. Zia Saundersti. a. tail-appendages ; 6. antenna. 


Meanwhile the following characters will probably suffice 
to identify the species:—F igure ovate. Cephalon rounded. 
Outer antennz cylindrical and fifteen-jointed, the ten terminal 
joints forming the flagellum, which is tipped with an articulus ; 
all the jomts armed with bristles. 'Tail~piece narrower than 
the terminal segment of the body; terminal segment of the 
tail-piece quadrate, its lower border forming a very obtuse 
angle. The uropoda, or caudal appendages, almost entirely 
exserted, the basal portion having a finger-like prolongation 
on the inner side, from the extremity of which extends a thin 
ramus, itself terminated by a seta as long as the ramus or 
longer; a minute hair projects from the ramus close to the 
starting-point of the long seta. The outer ramus thicker and 
longer than the inner one, but, with its short terminal seta, not 
equal to the combined length of the inner ramus and its long 
seta. A stout bristle projects from the outer angle of the 
uropoda, and is about half as long as the basal portion above 


described. 


288 Mr. EK. A. Smith on a new Species of Vitrina. 


The skin is smooth and shining, the surface under the 
microscope presenting the appearance of very minute curved 
scales. Colour fulvous. Length + inch. 

From what has been said it seems clear that the genus Za 
must be added to the genera Ligia and Ligidium, which, 
according to Messrs. Bate and Westwood, have hitherto 
constituted the subfamily Lig¢ine in the family Oniscide. 

Supposing this species to have been hitherto unobserved, I 
venture to name it Zia Saundersi7, in honour of an intimate 
and dear friend, W. Wilson Saunders, Esq., F.R.S., whose 
example, assistance, and encouragement have ever been at the 
service of the students of science, whether making the modest 
efforts of begimners or pursuing the most elaborate and im- 
portant inquiries. 


XX XII.— Description of a new Species belonging to the Genus 
Vitrina. By Enaar A. Smita, F.Z.8., Zoological Depart- 
ment, British Museum. 


THE specimens upon which the present species is founded were 
sent by Mr. T. Kirk (Secretary of the Auckland Institute, 
New Zealand) to the British Museum to Professor Owen 
for identification, accompanied by the following note :—“‘ The 
enclosed Vitrina-like shell I received from Sunday Island 
(Kermadees) during the eruption of 1871; the two or three 
folks in the island partly lived on the animal.” 

This volcanic island, sometimes called Raoul, is one of the 
Kermadee group, and situated about 550 miles to the north- 
east of Auckland, New Zealand. 


Vitrina kermadeensis. 


V. testa depressa, tenuissima, pellucida, nitida, vitrea, epidermide 
pertenui virenti-cornea amicta, incrementi lineis levissime, prope 
suturam fortius, striata; anfr. 33, celeriter accrescentes, primi 24 
convexiusculi, supra ultimum pauxillulum prominentes, ultimus 
magnus, superne yvix depressus, ad peripheriam rotundatus, basi 
subinflatus, versus aperturam non descendens ; sutura aliquanto 
depressa, angustissime marginata; apertura lunato-ovata, paululum 
obliqua, fere horizontalis; perist.epidermide duplicata incrassatum, 
basi recedens, marginibus approximatis. 

Alt. 43 mill.; diam. maj. 93, min. 73. 

This is a very fragile species, of a greenish horn-colour, 
very glossy and transparent, so much so that the outline of the 
body-whorl is quite apparent through the upper surface until 
its junction with the apex. ; 

No spiral sculpture can be traced by using an ordinary lens, 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 289 


but with the aid of a more powerful microscope very fine and 
numerous wavy striz are visible on the second volution only. 

The most mearly allied species appears to be V. Stranget, 
Pfr., from which the present form is at once distinguished by 
the different proportion of the last whorl to the others. In 
Stranget the whorls increase more rapidly, and towards the 
aperture the last one dilates very considerably ; this is not 
the case in kermadeensis, which is more transparent, more 
glossy, and of a greener tint than the former. 

V. dimidiata, Pfr., from New Zealand, the most nearly re- 
sae species in a geographical point of view, is a very distinct 
orm. 


XXXIII.— Observations on Chelonians, with Descriptions of 
new Genera and Species. By Dr. J. KE. Gray, F.R.S. Ke. 


Tue shells of adult Land-Tortoises (Zestudo) have the sternum 
more or less deeply concave and the hinder marginal plate over 
the tail (hence often called the caudal plate) very broad, thick, 
and convex externally, and with the lower edge more or less 
inflected. These I believe to be the shells of males; and the 
few specimens of the animals that I have been able to examine 
confirm this idea. The other specimens have the sternum flat 
and the caudal plate narrower, thinner, and flat, with the lower 
edge more or less expanded. These have been concluded to 
be the females. The shells of both the adult and younger 
specimens have this form; and as there must be young males 
as well as females, I conclude that some of the young shells 
are those of males, and that the concavity of the sternum and 
the width and convexity of the caudal plate are not attained 
until the animal has arrived at the adult age. The concavity 
of the sternum differs in the various species; but in some 
species, as Tstudo tabulata, it. becomes very deep in the older 
specimens, and accompanied by a contraction of the sides of 
the shell. Specimens in this state were regarded by Spix as 
a distinct species, under the name of Zestudo Hercules. 

The sternum of some of the more terrestrial ‘Terrapins, as 
Geoemyda, have the sternum of the adult very deeply and 
broadly concave ; and some of the large specimens of American 
Box Tortoises (Cistudo carolina) have the sternum concave in 
the centre and convex behind. The rest of the specimens, 
and the three of C. mexicana, in the British Museum, which 
are all full-grown, have the sternum flat. It may be that 
we have no adult males of the latter. There is in the Museum 
a specimen of Swanka which has the sternum very flat in 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 19 


290 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 


front and concave over the hinder cross suture; some spe- 
cimens of Sternotherus have a rather concave sternum; and 
some [H]ydromeduse have a deep narrow concavity in the 
middle of the hinder part of the sternum; but we have no 
proof of these being characters of the males. 


Testudo tabulata. 


There is a considerable difference in the shields of the head. 
Some have a pair of large plates before the large frontal ; 
this pair varies in size. It is divided by a straight linear 
suture and is sometimes large; but in one specimen (e) it is 
moderate and hexagonal, with a plate in the middle before it ; 
in another (a) there is a single central plate over the nostrils, 
and a large suborbital plate on each side of it; and in a third (7) 
there are two central nasal hexagonal plates, one behind the 
other, and a large plate on each side of the suture between 
them. In general the frontal plate is large and entire, but 
in some specimens it is divided in half. 


Peltastes geometricus. 


Four of the larger specimens in the British Museum have a 
large, very convex, and much inflexed caudal plate, and are 
perhaps males, as the three larger ones have the centre of the 
sternum more or less concave: the smaller one has this part 
flat ; and the caudal plate is convex, but not to the extent of the 
larger ones. ‘Three of the small specimens indicate a more 
or less inclination to become convex; while five, of about the 
same size, have this plate quite flat, with a more or less reflexed 
lower edge. 

Peltastes tentordus. 


One specimen, received from Mr. R. Brown, has the caudal 
plate very convex and inflexed—most probably a male. In all 
the other seven specimens in the Museum the caudal plate is 
flatter and spread out. 


Peltastes stellatus. 


The anal notch angular, broad apparently in both sexes. 
Hinder part of thighs with a large group of conical acute scales. 

The males havea sternum slightly concave the whole length 
of the central line. Caudal plate very broad, convex, with a 
strongly inflexed lower edge. 

The females have a flat sternum and only slightly convex 
caudal plates, the lower edge of which is not inflexed. 


Peltastes platynotus. 
The two specimens in the Museum have quite flat sternums, 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 291 


a broad angular anal notch, and a broad, not inflexed, caudal 
plate. Perhaps,both were females. 


Peltastes elongatus. 


The males (?) have the sternum rather concave for the whole 
of their length, and the anal notch deep, angular, with rather 
long plates at the side. Tail conical, elongate, with a large 
horny conical spur at the end. 

The females (?) have the sternum quite flat ; the anal notch 
broad, semicircular, with short, broad, slightly produced anal 
shields. Tail short, thick, unarmed. 

A. half-grown specimen, with a flat sternum, has the anal 
notch more angular, but broad, and the anal plates rather longer 
and more acute. Perhaps the notch becomes wider and rounded 
as the animal approaches the breeding-age. 

All the specimens in the Museum of a broad variety of this 
species, which came from Burmah, have a quite flat sternum 
and a broad angular anal notch, with moderately long an- 
gular lateral plates. 


Peltastes Letthiti. 


The hinder lobe of the sternum mobile ; caudal plate spread 
out ; sternum flat. 


Peltastes greecus. 


In the British Museum there are two very distinct varieties, 
which were regarded as two distinct species ( Z'estudo greca and 
T. mauritanica) by MM. Duméril and Bibron; and there is a 
very considerable difference in colour, probably arising from their 
more southern habitat. One has the caudal plate smooth ; and 
the shellis generally of a dull green colour mottled with black : 
these are said to live on the north shores of the Mediterranean. 
The males and females of the others (or at least those that have 
arounded, convex, or a flat caudal) are always marked with a 
distinct deep longitudinal groove in the centre of the caudal 
plate. ‘There are some shells in the Museum reddish white, 
with defined regularly disposed black marks: these are said to 
be confined to the south shores of the Mediterranean; but I have 
no means of verifying this fact. The same difference of colour is 
observed between the 7. margtnata of Greece and the variety 
which has been called 7. Lezthit of Scinde. 

The British Museum has a specimen brought by Mr. 
M‘Andrew from Asia Minor, and two others obtained at 
Xanthus. They are all young; but they agree in being of a 
pale brownish-white colour, with an elongated spot on the 
centre of the areola of each dorsal plate. We have the upper 

. 19% 


292 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 


shell of a rather larger specimen without any habitat, but most 
likely from Xanthus. These four have the caudal plate with- 
out any central groove. There is another specimen very like 
the others, but rather older, with the caudal plate divided by 
a deep longitudinal central groove. 


Chersina angulata. 


A specimen in the Museum, of a large size (nearly 7 inches 
long), has the gular plate very much produced. The hinder 
half of the sternum is rather concave, the anal notch broad ; 
and the caudal plate is very convex, broad, and with the lower 
margin inflexed. Male? 

We have a specimen, about the same size, with a perfectly 
flat sternum rather more raised on the side, and a narrower, 
scarcely convex dorsal. It was probably a female. 


Kinixys Belliana. 

There are four specimens of the animal and shell of this 
tortoise. 

One (a) has five well-developed front claws; and two 
others (> & e) have only four front claws, and no appear- 
ance of the fifth. In other respects the animals and shells 
are similar. 

The sternum of most of the specimens is quite flat the whole 
length, and the caudal plates similar and not inflexed; so that 
perhaps the sexes do not differ in this species. In the smaller 
specimen (f), called A. Speke?, the sternum is slightly con- 
cave between the abdominal plates. In the ‘Suppl. Cat. Shield 
Rept.,’ p. 14, this specimen is compared, by slip of the pen, 
to K. Homeana instead of K. Belliana. Sternum in two 
specimens received from Abyssinia concave, one very much 
and deeply so. 

A young specimen in the British Museum (from Mr. 
Bartlett’s collection), about 2 inches long, has the first verte- 
bral plate broader than long—the second about the same length 
and much broader, being the broadest of the series—the third 
shorter and narrower, especially the hinder part—the fifth 
narrower and shorter still. The third costal plate on each side 
shows a distinct suture obliquely across it, being nearer the 
front margin of the outer than the inner side. 

Fifth lateral marginal plate sometimes produced more or 
less between the suture of the first and second costal ones ; it 
is most produced in the young specimen which has been called 
K. Spekez, and which is peculiar for being pale with a square 
black areola. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 293 


Kinixys erosa. 


All the specimens are slightly concave in the front of the 
sternum. Some large specimens have the concavity extending 
back in the middle line of the sternum to the anal plates ; and 
the caudal marginal plates are generally thickened, but not 
inflexed. In the smaller specimens, which are generally more 
depressed and much more ventricose, the sternum is flat, except 
just at the back of the gular plates. 

In one specimen (15/), which is much darker and more 
beautifully coloured, the centre of the fifth vertebral plate is 
much more convex than usual; yet it is quite distinct from 
K. Homeana. The finger-bones are twice as broad as long ; 
the feet-bones are rather longer than broad. 


Kinixys Homeana. 


This species is known by the fifth vertebral’ plate being 
large, erect, and produced near the upper margin. The upper 
edge of the fifth marginal plate slightly produced. 

The nuchal shield in our two specimens is variable, but is 
distinct in both. In 0 it is regular, very narrow, and very 
long; in a it is broad, elongate, irregular, as if forming part 
of the left first marginal plate. 


Manouria fusca. 


I formerly considered that the sternum in all the museum 
specimens was flat ; but the specimen originally figured in the 
‘Cat. Shield Rept.’ (t. 3) has the hinder lateral margin mode- 
rately expanded, and the caudal plates convex externally and 
with the lower edge slightly inflexed. The sternum is rather 
convex on the sides, and slightly concave in the centre of the 
hinder part of the abdominal and preanal plates, truncated and 
slightly notched in front; the hinder part rather narrow, with 
a deep notch, the end being about half the width of the base 
of the preanal plates. 

The other specimen is larger, with the lateral margins, both 
before and behind, much more expanded and bent up. The 
caudal plates are flat and expanded. ‘The sternum is con- 
siderably concave for two thirds of its length ; the front end is 
short and rounded, quite different from the elongate truncated 
plates in the first specimen; and the hinder lobe is broad, 
with a wide anal notch at the end. The hinder end is about 
two thirds the width of the hinder margin of the preanal plates. 

Perhaps these are species, as the one which has the flat 
spread-out caudal plates has the most concave sternum and 
short rounded postgular plates, and that with a convex in- 


294 Dr. J. HE. Gray on Chelonians. 


flexed caudal has a flatter sternum and narrower postgular and 
anal plates. 

The very fine specimen with the animal, said to have come 
from the river Murray, Australia, seems to be intermediate 
between them. The sternum is quite flat, truncated before and 
behind ; the hinder lobe is rather broad, being, as in the smaller 
specimen, half as broad at the end as the hinder edge of the 
preanal plates with the convex inflexed caudal shields. 


Orstudo carolina. 


Nuchal plate generally well developed. In one specimen (f) 
in the British Museum it is longitudinally divided into two 
plates and very short, as is also the margin of the marginal 
plate next to it; in another (4) the nuchal plate is entirely 
wanting. 

In most the sternum is more or less black or brown ; in fit 
is very irregularly spotted and striped with yellow. In many 
shells the keel of the vertebral plates is yellow. 

A specimen (/) from Louisiana is much paler, with the 
margin more reflexed and produced. The animal has a pale 
streak from the hinder edge of the beak, over the ear, along 
the side of theneck. It is called the ‘‘ Woodland or Canebrake 
Tortoise.” 


Cistoclemmys flavomarginata. 


The shell black, with a red vertebral streak, the discal and 
upperside of marginal plates with a red spot; underside of 
marginal plates yellow. Head with a narrow streak on the 
side, from the back edge of the orbit, which is dilated into a 
blotch behind. 

This species is most distinct from Cuora trifasciata, with 
which it has been proposed to be united when only examined 
in spirits. It is one of the most beautiful Box Tortoises. 

This animal is most distinct from all the varieties of C. am- 
boinensis by the streak on the back of the head commencing 
at the back angle of the eye, narrowed in front and gradually 
widening behind; whereas the streak of Cuora amboinensis 
begins at the nostrils and is continued over the eye, along the 
sides of the neck, and is nearly of the same width throughout, 
or only a little wider behind. 

Dr. Giinther has arranged this species with Cuora; but the 
toes are shorter and much less webbed than in that genus, 
which has a very distinct web fringed on the margin. 


Cuora amboinensis. 
The alveolar processes of the upper jaw narrow, with a sharp 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 295 


raised margin on the outer side, and a slightly raised margin 
on the inner side. Lower jaw produced and incurved in the 
middle, with ad sharp raised margin on the outer side, and a 
slight raised line on the middle of the inner margin. The 
sternum flat, slightly concave in the middle. 

Two specimens (one from Gilolo) have the hinder half of 
the sternum decidedly concave in the middle, but not much so. 
All the others in the Museum have this part flat. The Gilolo 
specimen is marked as a male. 

This species varies much in the convexity of the shell, and 
presents two very distinct varieties :— 


I. The sternum brown-varied, sometimes entirely brown. 
The youngest specimens I haye seen are of that colour 
beneath. ‘The dorsal plates pale, with dark brown areole. 

Philippines. 

II. Sternum pale whitish, with a black spot on each areola. 
The younger specimens are white on the sides and more 
or less black on the central longitudinal line of the sternum ; 
and the spots remain in the older specimens. 

Specimens of this variety come from the Philippines, 

Celebes, and Borneo. 


Cuora trifasciata. 


One of the specimens in the British Museum wants the 
nuchal shield, which is present in all the four others. 


CYCLEMYS. 


The ribs of the very young specimens are lanceolate, united 
to the vertebra as by a footstalk, then suddenly dilated, and 
almost immediately gradually attenuated like a lanceolate leaf. 
The sternum bony only on the margin, the four pairs of bones 
forming a ring, leaving avery large hollow place in the centre. 
The odd bone triangular, longer than broad; the lateral pair of 
bones on each side entirely separate from one another, and 
only meeting by an attenuated process. ‘The front lateral 
bones united to the dorsal disk by a much narrower external 
lateral process than the hinder ones. The central space be- 
comes gradually filled up on the inner side, leaving in the older 
specimens only a small membranous opening, which at length 
becomes quite filled up. 


Cyclemys dhor. 


In the younger specimens the front dorsal plate is about as 
long as broad, sometimes rather wider in front, but generally 
contracted in front and wider on the sides, so as to be broadly 


296 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 


lanceolate. In the older specimens the front plate becomes 
more elongate compared with its breadth, and narrowed in 
front. The second vertebral shield becomes longer compared 
with its length as the animal increases in age. In one speci- 
men the vertebral plates are very irregular, with two super- 
numerary plates, and the front plate is broader than long ; but 
I believe this is only a deformity. 

Dr. C. Giebel, in the ‘Zeitsch. gesammt. Naturwissensch.’ 
1866, p. 15, describes a Clemmys dentata, which he says is 
the same as Emys dentata of my ‘Illust. Ind. Zool.’ ii. t. viii., 
from the Isle of Banka. He figures three specimens (t. iii.), 
exhibiting supernumerary dorsal, or posterior marginal, or both 
posterior dorsal and posterior marginal plates (t. ii. f. 1-4). 
See ‘Append. Cat. Shield Rept.’ p. 22. 

The figures of Dr. Giebel are very like the young specimen 
of Geoemyda grandis in the British Museum, from Camboja, 
which has the vertebral plates very irregularly divided. 

In the British Museum there is a specimen of Elseya lati- 
sternum with additional caudal marginal plates. 


Nicoria Spengleri. 

The adult animal is pale above, with a black streak on the 
outside of the vertebral and costal shields; the underside of 
margin and sternum black, with a white streak round the cir- 
cumference of the flat part of the sternum. The lateral dorsal 
keels appear to be wide apart in the young specimens. 


Geoclemmys Mihlenbergit. 


The shell is variously spotted and streaked with black, but 
leaving a distinct longitudinal pale vertebral streak. 


Glyptemys pulchella. 


The sternum of an imperfect skeleton, prepared by Dr. 
Giinther, in the British Museum is rather concave the whole 
of its length. The alveolar surface of the upper jaw is wider 
than it is in the specimen figured, which may also be a character 
of sex. 


EMYDINA. 
The lower jaw of this tribe offers two modifications :— 


I. The alveolar edge is simple, shelving, acute, with a sharp 
edge on the outer side. Melanochelys. 


II. The alveolar edge is concave, shelving inwards, with a 
more or less prominent margin on the inner side and 
raised sharp edge on the outer side. mys, Eryma. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 297 


Melanochelys trijuga. 


7 
The skull is at once known from Gellia crassicollis by the 
alveolar surface and the sharp simple edge of the lower jaw. 
The shell of this species greatly varies in colour, for 
example :— 


a. Shell black above, with three yellow keels, more distinct 
when worn. 
Sternum black, with a well-marked yellow margin; 
lateral margin of shell yellow. 
Sternum and shell like the former, but lateral margin with 
irregular pale blotches. 
Sternum and lateral margin of shell blackish brown. 
6. Back brown, keels not paler. 
Sternum blackish, with a narrow yellow edge. 
Sternum brown, slightly paler on the edge. 
Sternum pale brown, with a broad yellowish border and 
under margin to the shell. 


In the older specimens the plates become very rugose, of a 
blackish-brown colour, and often covered with a brown-reddish 
earth. 

In the younger specimens the first vertebral plate is quadran- 
gular, about as long as broad, and rather narrower behind than 
before ; but as the animal enlarges the anterior vertebral plate 
becomes much longer than broad, and is marked with a line 
extending up each side of the plate, forming a narrow area 
behind; and the upper front margin of the first costal plate 
overlaps the hinder part of the side of the first vertebral so as 
to make the plate appear very narrow behind. In a very 
old solid specimen im the British Museum it has entirely 
lost the broad square form of its youth, or the elongate 
urceolate form, partly covered by the overlapping front edge 
of the first costal, of its more adult age, and become a narrow 
elongate plate, which is much narrower behind. 

The half-grown have a rhombic space covered with membrane 
in the middle of the sternum, the centre of it placed rather 
behind the suture between the pectoral and abdominal plates, 

The dorsal plates of the younger specimens often have tuber- 
cular radiating lines from the angles of the areola to the 
margin. 

The young specimens from Ceylon have the edge of the 
keels and the margin of the shell yellow, like the large spe- 
cimen from India (f) which I have called Melanochelys Sebe ; 
but they appear to pass into the other specimens with the 
yellow on the margin more diffuse. In these young specimens 


298 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 


the middle of the sternum is black the whole of its length, and 
the sides are white or yellow ; but the black seems to extend 
as the animal grows. The size and number of the spots on 
the head of the young specimens seem to vary in the different 
specimens from Ceylon, which makes me think that JZ, Sebe 
is only a variety. 


Emys. 


I. Sides of head and neck with regular lines. Hmys caspica ; 
E.. pannonica, Asia Minor; E. Tristrami, Holy Land ; 
E. arabica, Arabia Petreea; H. Fraser, Algiers. 
II. Head with a spot on temple and a ring behind it; lateral 
processes of sternum with two spots. Hmys flavipes. 
III. Head with a spot on the temple. mys laniaria. 


In the young specimens of L. caspica there is a black-edged 
red spot in the centre of each costal shield; the centre of it is 
often raised, forming akeel. The nuchal shield is not marked 
with a pale central streak. 

In young £. pannonica there is no indication of this, but 
the dorsal shields are marked with black-edged, branched, 
diverging lines. Sternum black, with white spots on the outer 
side. 

£. arabica is marked with dark-edged branched lines like 
E. pannonica ; but the nuchal shield has a yellow streak down 
its centre ; and the sternum is black, with red spots on the outer 
edge. These may very likely be varieties of caspica; but we 
want more specimens of different ages and localities to deter- 
mine this question. 

Emys laniaria has aspot on the temple, but no distinct ring 
on the tympanum, only some crescent-shaped marks. ‘The 
fore legs have yellow lines. The sternum is black beneath and 
on the lateral processes, with a pale margin and reddish stripe 
on the suture between the outer end of the pectoral and abdomi- 
nal plates and the inner edge of the marginal plates, very 
unlike the colouring of . flavipes. Indeed nothing can be 
more unlike than the colouring of the sides of the head, neck, 
and feet of these two species; and they are both most distinct 
from Mauremys fuliginosa. 


Emys caspica. 

Upper jaw with a flat alveolar plate, rather broader behind, 
inner edge gradually tapering off towards the central line. 
Lower jaw with a rather broad slanting alveolar surface, with a 
sharp external margin and a very slightly raised internal 
edge. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 299 


ERYMA. 


Upper jaw with flat alveolar plates, which are broad 
behind, much narrower in front, and separated from each other 
by an impressed space. Lower jaw with a broad, concave, 
alveolar surface with a raised edge on the inner side and a 
much more raised edge on the outer side. 


Pseudemys concinna. 


The colouring of the head and neck is moderately permanent ; 
but the colouring of the back of the shell and underside of 
margin differs very considerably, and almost appears to be of 
a different type in each of the five specimens in the British 
Museum. 


Damonia macrocephala. 


Young shell with a central space, which diminishes into a 
small rhombic one in the half-grown animals. Sternum of 
young shell brown, with a whitish keel on each side. Older 
shells white, with a black blotch on each shield. 

The specimens first described were only half-grown; and 
there are three very distinct keels, and the first dorsal is square. 

In the skeleton of an old specimen called Emys subtrijuga, 
from the Leyden Museum, the middle of the back has a slight 
central keel; and the lateral keels are very blunt, nearly 
obliterated, only making the middle of the back lower than 
the rest of the shell. The nuchal plate is generally much 
broader behind than in front. 


Damonia oblonga. 


The colouring of the head and beak of the specimen from 
Batavia, which I have described under the name of Damonia 
oblonga (Ann, & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1871, viii. p. 367), is so ex- 
ceedingly like the other specimens of Damonta macrocephala, 
that I am inclined to consider it either a local or accidental 
variety of that species, having a much narrower oblong body 


and shell. 


Damonia Reevesii. 


Shell of adult animal very thick, about 4 inches long, 
and the vertebral and costal bones under the keels much 
raised ; indeed they produce the tubercular keels ; for the plates 
over them are comparatively thin and only conformable to the 
bones beneath. ‘The first vertebral shield nearly as broad as 
long, and scarcely contracted on the sides ; the thin discal plates 
have a few obscure pale rays, most distinct near the margin. 


300 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 


The sternum is quite flat. The spots on the side of the nose 
are very distinct and slightly convex. The margin is much 
contracted at the openings, especially the hinder one, as in 
the Bataguride. The vertebra are very small and slightly 
raised, and easily separated from the costal plates. 


Graptemys pseudogeographica. 

The head with a streak between the nose and each eye, and 
with a curved line behind each eye ; the streak varies greatly in 
width and distinctness, but is always present. The back of the 
shell varies in height; but in some the back is sloping but flat on 
the side, and much elevated in the middle, forming a kind of 
penthouse. The claws vary greatly in length: in some only 
the three middle front claws are lengthened ; but in other spe- 
cimens all the claws, before and behind, are much lengthened 
and slender. 


Kachuga trilineata. 


Nuchal shield broad. Sternum of young shell with four 
square unossified spaces. Dorsal plates well developed ; lateral 
plates with nine unossified spaces on each side. Claws 5.4. 


Kachuga dentata. 
Nuchal plate broad. 
Batagur lineata “d,” Gray, Cat. 36. 


Hab. South India, river Kistna (Elliot). 


Known from the young of K. trilineata, because that has 
the sternum much sooner ossified, and has a brown spot on 
each vertebral plate, and a small brown spot on the hinder edge 
of each costal plate. 


Kachuga major, Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 51. 


Nuchal shield linear, very narrow. 


Hab. India? 


Only known from a very young specimen of a large species. 
The specimen, 4} inches long, has the ribs linear, very thin, 
only very slightly ossified near the vertebre. The sternum 
has three square spaces unossified. In a much larger speci- 
men this part is more ossified than in smaller specimens in the 
Museum. 


Ocadia sinensis. 


An adult specimen, 8? inches long, from Formosa is black 
and bluntly three-keeled, which is scarcely apparent in the 
two adult specimens that lived for a long time in the Zoolo- 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. | 301 


gical Society’s Gardens, and were described as Emys Ben- 
nettit. ‘The underside is white, with large solid black spots. 


KL INOSTERNON. 


The pelvis very large, the hinder rami long, cylindrical. 
The anterior part broad and concave in front, as in Swanka. 

The skeleton of Staurotypus is very like that of Ktnosternon 
and Swanka. 


SwANKA. 


The sternum of almost all the specimens is flat or slightly 
convex ; but in one specimen (g) in the British Museum, which 
has rather a large head, the sternum is very flat in front and 
concave, especially over the hinder cross suture. 


Swanka scorpiordes. 


The specimens appear to differ in the development and length 
of the tail, and in the strength of the spine at the end of it, 
which is strongest in the longest-tailed. These are said to be 
sexual differences; but there is no difference in the form of 
the sternum, or of the caudal marginal plates, between the 
long- and short-tailed specimens. 

The three-keeled Swanka scorpioides generally has the 
caudal end of the sternum entire and rounded ; the single- 
keeled S. maculata has this part truncated or notched, as is 
also the case in S. fasciata, of which only a single specimen 
has been observed. 

The anterior lobes of the sternum covered by the postgular 
and pectoral plates united into one bone, with a straight suture. 
The abdominal plates cover four four-sided bones. The pre- 
anal and anal plates cover the hinder mobile flap, which con- 
sists of a pair of bones separated by a central suture. 

The pelvis has very long, slender lateral bones to the ver- 
tebree ; the front of the pelvis is very peculiar, having a large 
concavity occupying nearly the whole of its surface in front. 

The hinder toes are scarcely longer than the front ones. 


HyYDROMEDUSA. 
This genus may be divided into two subgenera. 


I. Hydromedusa. 


The head rather large, back of neck smooth. Front pair of 
marginal plates four-sided, broader than long ; the front ver- 
tebral plate oblong, transverse, as broad as the front marginal 
plates, with truncated sides; the two hinder vertebral and 


302 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 


costal plates tubercular. Head and back of neck brown ; lower 
side of throat pale. 


* The second vertebral plate simple, and narrower than the first 
vertebral plate. 


1. Hydromedusa Maaximiliana. B.M. 


The front vertebral plate oblong, transverse, broad, and 
angularly bent at the sides; the second vertebral plate four- 
sided, longer than broad, simple at the front lateral angles, and 
scarcely broader than the hinder end; the hinder vertebral 
and costal plates with a prominent tubercle on the hinder edge. 
Front pair of marginal plates very large, four-sided, twice as 
broad as long. Sternum deeply concave behind. The intergular 
plate large and broad; the angular part behind not so long as 
the front square part. 

Hab. Brazil. 


The second marginal plate on each side large, broad, pent- 
agonal, the inner side being, like the ninth marginal plate, 
biangular on the inner side. The two last vertebral and costal 
plates tubercular. The sternum, on the suture between the 
two hinder pairs of plates, very deeply concave. 


** Second vertebral plate with a narrow projecting lobe at the front 
lateral angles, rather wider than the first vertebral plate. 


2. Hydromedusa platanensis, Hand-list Sh. Rept. p.64. B.M. 


Front vertebral plate very short, more than three times as 
broad as long, transverse, truncated at the ends; second ver- 
tebral plate four-sided, longer than broad, with a small pro- 
jecting lobe at the front lateral angles, which project beyond 
the edge of the front vertebral plate. Front pair of marginal 
plates very large, broader than long. The two hinder vertebral 
plates with a prominent tubercle on the hinder edge. Sternum 
flat both before and behind. Intergular plate large and broad, 
the angular part behind longer than the front square part. 

Hab. Rio de la Plata (Bravard). 


The tubercles on the vertebral and hinder costal plates are 
not nearly so large as those of H. Maximiliana ; and the last 
but one of the lateral plates is very broad, the angle in the 
middle of its inner side very acute, and extending far up 
along the hinder edge of the last costal. 

The front central bone behind the pelvis square, divided by 
a suture down the centre ; and the hinder bone between it and 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 303 


the caudal marginal bones large, oblong, transverse, the 
hinder side being separated by an arched suture from the upper 
hinder margin of the penultimate marginal bone. 


*** The second vertebral plate with broad projecting front lateral 
angles, which are much wider than the first vertebral plate. 


3. Hydromedusa Banke, Giebel, Zeitschr. f. ges. Naturw. 
1866, t. iv. 


The front marginal plates square, four-sided, rather broader 
than long. First vertebral plate oblong, more than twice as 
wide as long, truncated at the sides, rather widening behind, 
as broad in front as the two front marginal plates, the hinder 
edge arched ; the second vertebral plateas long as broad behind, 
much wider in front, with the front lateral angles produced 
beyond the sides of the front vertebral plate, and angular, with 
two short sides, the sides straight and gradually contracting to 
the width of the next* plate; the other vertebral plates six- 
sided, not quite so long as broad. The hinder vertebral and 
costal plates do not appear to be tubercular. 


Hab. “ Island of Banka” (Gebel). 


Il. Chelomedusa. 


Head moderate, back of neck tubercular. Front pair of 
marginal plates subtriangular, broad on the inner side, narrow 
on the outer side; the first vertebral plate narrow in front, 
and as wide as the four marginal plates, wide behind, with 
shelving sides. 

The hinder vertebral and costal shields not tubercular. 
Sternum flat. The head and upper part of neck dark brown, 
the upper lip and undersides of head and neck white. 


* The second vertebral plate moderate, with a narrow projecting lobe 
on the front lateral angle, as wide as the first vertebral plate. 


4, Hydromedusa depressa, Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 64. B.M. 


Front vertebral plate very short, transverse, narrow in front, 
twice as broad behind, and angular at the ends; the second 
vertebral plate four-sided, longer than broad, with a small pro- 
jecting lobe at the front lateral angle, projecting as far as the 
hinder edge of the front vertebral plate. The front pair of 
marginal plates moderate, longer than broad. The costal and 
dorsal plates with a brown spot on the hinder part, without 
any tubercle. 

Sternum flat; the front plates irregular in this specimen. 
Gray, Cat. Shield Rept. p. 60, t. xxvi. 

Hab. Brazil (Brandt). 


304 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 


** The second vertebral plate broader than the first vertebral plate 
in front, truncated at the front lateral angle, contracted behind 
to the width of the front end of the third vertebral, with straight 
sides. 


5. Hydromedusa flavilabris. BM. 


The front pair of marginal plates subtriangular; the front 
vertebral plate twice as broad behind as long. 
Hab. Brazil. 


This species is known from H. depressa by the smaller size 
of the front vertebral plate and the larger size and broader 
front lateral end of the second vertebral plate. 


It is unfortunate that we have only a single specimen of each 
of these species ; and it is possible that what have been con- 
sidered specific characters may be only sexual or accidental 
differences. 


Hydraspis depressa. 


Back broadly keeled. Costals with an obscure keel towards 
the upper edge. The vertebral shields with an oblong spot 
on the hinder edge of each plate; costal shields with a minute 
spot on the upper part of the hinder margin. The web with a 
white spot between each of the toes. 


Hydraspis Gaudichaudit. 


Young. Head large, back of neck smooth. Pale brown, 
minutely darker-speckled ; margin pale ; sternum and under- 
side of margin with a large rhombic black spot covering most 
part of the centre ; head brown, throat and lower part of sides 
of neck, including the tympanum, white, with small brown 


spots. 
Hab. Bahia. 


Hydraspis bicolor, Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 65. 


Head moderate, brown, black-varied; face with radiating 
short black spots and lines; astreak from the back of the eye, 
over the ear, along the side of the neck ; tympanum white, with 
a black perpendicular stripe not reaching quite tothe bottom ; 
chin white, which is wider on the sides, and with a black spot 
in the middle. Shell oblong, depressed, black above and 
below ; the lower side of the disk, the sterno-costal suture, and 
the outer edge of the sternum white ; the sutures of the under- 
side of the marginal plates blackish. The limbs and feet 
blackish, with the lower sides of the thighs and hind legs grey, 
black-dotted. 

Hab. Demerara Falls. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 305 


Hydraspis maculata, Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 65. 


Head large, brown above and below, with a broad streak 
from nostrils, under the eye, continued along side of head, 
including ear and on the upper and lower lips; back of neck 
smooth; the hinder part of the throat white. Dorsal shield 
brown, with a white spot in the middle of the upper edge 
of the first costal. The underside of the margin, triangular 
marks on the upper edge of the margin, the sterno-costal 
sutures, the lateral sides of the front lobe, and the hinder 
part of the hinder lobe of the sternum pale. A rhombic 
spot occupying the greater part of the disk of the sternum 
dark brown ; this spot is acutely angular in front, and rounded 
behind. 

Hab. Tropical America. 


ACANTHOCHELYS. 


Head oblong ; chin two-bearded ; back of neck covered with 
conical spines. Thorax oblong, with a central longitudinal 
depression. Nuchal plate distinct. Anterior vertebral plate 
large (in the adult), about as long as broad, broad in front and 
narrow behind; the second and third elongate, six-sided. 
Intergular plate broad, longer than the gular. 


Acanthochelys Spixti, Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 66. 
Hydraspis Spixii. 
Hab. Brazil. 


In the British Museum we have a specimen of this species 
which is covered with short, rigid confervoid fibres. It was 
for many years in spirits, but has lately been stuffed. 


MesocLemmys, Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 66. 


Head moderate, depressed; eyes anterior; crown broad, 
extending to the occiput; the sides rather concave, covered 
with regular-shaped shields—two pairs in front and two behind, 
and one elongated hexagonal central. Temples covered with 
polygonal shields. Tympanum large, superficial. Back of 
neck granular. Chin two-bearded. 

Shell solid, rather depressed. Nuchal shield distinct. 
Anterior vertebral shield elongate, wider behind ; the fourth 
and fifth keeled. 

This genus is between Hydraspis and Platemys in the form 
of the skull, but is known from both by the regular shields on 
the head. 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 20 


306 Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 


Mesoclemmys gibba. 


Hydraspis gibba, Gray, Cat. Shield Rept. : 
Platemys gibba, Dum. & Bib. Erp. Gén. ii. p. 416, t. xx. fig. 2? (bad). 


Hab. “‘ Madagascar” (Parzudak?); South America (Bibron). 


STERNOTH ARUS. 


Some specimens have a rather concave or flattened sternum, 
perhaps males ; they appear to have the anal shields larger 
and more produced. Others have the sternum slightly convex, 
and the anal plates not so much produced as in the female and 
young land-tortoises. 

Sternotherus sinuatus, with the broad first vertebral, has the 
sternum very intense uniform black. S. Derbianus, with the 
narrower first vertebral shield, has the sternum black on the 
margins and more or less white in the centre of the disk. 


Trionyx ? Dillwynii, Hand-list Sh. Rept. p. 79. 

Head and body olive, uniform white beneath. Dorsal disk 
with close longitudinal, rather converging, rows of small 
granules. Head above olive, with several uniform narrow 
streaks becoming rather broader behind :—one from the side of 
the nose along the borderof the upper lip, edging thewhite of the 
front of the throat; the second extending from the tip of the nose 
to the eye, through the eyelids, to the outer angle of the eye, 
and bent down behind over the tympanum. A central streak 
commencing before and extending between the eyes to the 
occiput, and with a branch on each side just behind the eyes, 
which is widened and extended on the upper part of the side 
of the neck. 

Hab. Borneo (Cutter). 


This species is very distinct in the colouring of the head ; 
and as there is only a single specimen, I cannot have the head 
extracted. 

We have lately received a beautiful skull of Lsola pegu- 
ensis from Borneo; but that is at once known from this 
pee by the head being minutely and uniformly dotted with 
white. 


EMyDA. 
The synonyma of the two species are very much confused. 


1. Emyda granosa. 


The hinder callosities oblong and oblique, and diverging 
with regard to each other. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Chelonians. 307 


This genus was first figured by Lacépéde in 1788, in his 
‘Quadr. Ovipar,’ t. xi., under the name of “La Chagrinée,” 
from a specimen sent by Sonnerat from India. He does not 
represent the sternum, but only says it has seven callosities— 
three in front, two in the middle, and two behind ; so that it 
is impossible to determine to which it belongs. Shaw copies 
Lacépéde’s figure under the name of Testudo granulata. 

Scheepf, in his ‘History of Tortoises’ (1792)*, figures Tes- 
tudo granosa, both the back and front (t. xxx. & xxx. B), froma 
specimen in the collection of Dr. Bloch, who received it from 
Dr. Johns from the Coromandel coast. He confounds it with the 
Testudo punctata of Lacépéde and the Testudo triunguis of 
Forskal. This figure represents the species with oblong, 
diverging, separate posterior sternal callosities ; and therefore 
it is for this species that the name of granosa must be retained. 

Geoffroy, in his memoir on 7rionyx (Ann. Mus. 1809, vol. 
xiv.), describes a Zyionyx coromandelicus as having seven 
callosities on the sternum, without saying any thing about their 
shape, and only figures the bones of the back ; but from the 
habitat he quotes, Coromandel, and the observation of Cuvier 
quoted below, I have no doubt it was this species from conti- 
nental India. 

I figured the species from continental India with diverging 
posterior callosities, under the name of Trionyx punctatus, in 
my ‘Illustrations of Indian Zoology;’ and it is figured under 
the same name in the ‘ Tortoises, ‘Terrapins, and ‘Turtles.’ 


2. Emyda ceylonensis. 


The hinder pair of callosities united by a straight central 
longitudinal suture the whole of their length, each of a quadran- 
gular shape, the hinder end being much narrower than the 
front ; the odd front callosity subcircular, being nearly as long 
as broad. 


Cuvier, in the ‘Ossemens Fossiles,’ evidently believed that 
the form of the hinder callosities altered with age, not observing 
their different directions. Thus he. describes and figures the 
hinder pair as forming a quadrilateral which is broader in 
front (vol. v. p. 207, t. xu. f. 47); and he observes that M. 
Geoffroy, in the ‘Ann. Mus.,’ has described those of a young 
individual of this species, in which the two hinder callosities 
have not yet united to form a quadrilateral; this is why he 


* It is curious that in the copy of this work (published in 1792) 
in the library of Sir Joseph Banks, which has been in the museum ever 
since his death, I had to cut open the pages I wanted to examine, showing 
how little original works are consulted. 

20* 


308 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Guémul. 


counts seven sternal callosities ; but in the adult brought by 
M. Leschenault there are only six. It is evident that he and 
Geoffroy had two different species. 

MM. Duméril and Bibron (Erpét. Gén. vol. iis p. 501) adopt 
Cuvier’s view, describing as the perfect specimen the one with 
the quadrilateral posterior callosities, and figuring it at t. xxi. 
f. 2a; but the synonyma include both species. 

Dr. John Wagler, in his ‘ Nat. Syst. Amphib.’ t.ii. f.22 & 23, 
figures a half-grown sternum under the names of “ 7'rionyx 
coromandelicus, Geoffroy, Testudo granosa, Schoepf,” a nearly 
adult sternum of the Ceylon species with parallel posterior 
callosities. 


There is in the British Museum a young specimen which 
may be different ; for instead of having the back marked with 
various-shaped white spots or marblings, the back in spirits is 
pale brown, with regular, round, dark brown spots, those of 
the middle near the vertebral line being the largest, and those 
on the front of the dorsal shield more or less confluent, forming 
three interrupted cross bands. 

It may be designated Himyda fuscomaculata. 


The inside of the hinder part of the shells has a group of 
two or three concavities on each side of the part behind the 
pelvis, producing a pair of more or less prominent convexities 
outside. In one specimen (d) of EL. ceylonensis there is a 
prominence on the outside of the hinder part of the dorsal shell 
over each concavity. 

The same is to be observed in the inside of the shell of Cy- 
clanosteus senegalensis ; but there the cavity is single, more 
circular, and deeper, so that the substance left is translucent. 


XXXIV.—Additional Notes on the Guémul. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S, &e. 


From letters that I have received it appears that the Guémul 
of Molina is still not understood. 

There are in the British Museum three distinct species of 
deer to which this name has been applied ; and perhaps Molina’s 
account of it, which was only from reports of travellers, may 
itself have referred to two or more species. 

Three species have been described ; and we have the skulls 
of all the species, and specimens of two of the animals, in the 
British Museum :— 

1. Furcifer antisiensis (Cervus antistensis of D’Orbigny’s 
‘Voyage,’ t. 20), from the Bolivian Alps. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Guémul. 309 


2. Xenelaphus anomalocera, from Tinta in the Peruvian 
Andes. , 

3. Huamela leucotis (Capreolus leucotis, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1849, 
p- 64, t. xii.), from the Magellan Straits. 

These three animals differ in size—Furcifer antisiensis being 
the smallest, and Huamela leucotis the largest. They differ in 
colour: they all seem to have a summer and winter fur; 
but in each state they are to be distinguished by the colour of 
their fur. They differ in the form of the skull and the size of 
the pit for the tear-gland. 

They have each a peculiarly formed horn, and hence are re- 
ferred to three different genera. It has been thought, as we only 
have one male of Xenelaphus, and the horns are very peculiar 
and the two sides unlike, that the specimen described and 
figured may be a monstrosity and not the usual form of the 
genus; but should this be the case, which I do not think is 
likely, the surface ef the horns and the form of the less- 
developed horn of the more usual shape, and which may be 
regarded as the normal shape of the species, is so unlike the 
horns of either of the two other species that, mdependently of 
the consideration of the size and colour of the animal and of ~ 
the shape of the skull, it must be considered a most distinct 
species ; and, as I said in my original description of Xenelaphus 
(P. Z. S. 1869, p. 498), “if they (the horns) are not quite of 
the normal form, it is clear they are not a monstrosity of 
the regular forked horns of a Furecifer” (Cat. Ruminants, 
p- 89). 

MM. Gay and Gervais, in the ‘Ann. Sci. Nat.’ 1846, 
p- 91, describe a young deer without horns in the Paris 
Museum, which Gay brought from the higher regions of 
Chili, under the name of Cervus chilensis, observing that it 
is very like in size, skull, and fur to Cervus antisiensis of 
D’Orbigny, but that it is too young to have horns to com- 
pare with the horns of that animal. Gay, in the Atlas to 
his ‘ Historia de Chile,’ figures this young animal and the 
skull. 

Dr. Philippi, in Wiegmann’s ‘Archiv’ for 1870, p. 46, says 
that Gay’s animal is C. antistensis of D’Orbigny, perhaps 
believing that there was only one South-American roebuck. 

The figure of the skull is very like the skull which Mr. 
Whitely brought from the Peruvian Andes, and which I called 
Xenelaphus anomalocera. 

The figure of the young animal is very like that of the skin 
in winter fur which we received from Lord Derby, from the 
coast of Peru. The figure of it and the skin agree with the 
specimens of Xenelaphus we received from Mr. Whitely in 


310 Royal Society :-— 


being white on the front edge of the thighs, by which both are 
distinguished from Huamela leucotis; so I am inclined to believe 
that the animal which Gay and Gervais described is probably 
a young specimen in the winter fur of that species, and certainly 
not Huamela leucotis. 

We only know Cervus antisiensis of D’Orbigny from his 
figure, which is very different (especially by the pale throat 
and chest and by its horns) from Xenelaphus and Huamela. 
Unfortunately D’Orbigny does not figure the skull. 

The skull which we received from the Zoological Society as 
the skull of this species has slightly developed and deformed 
horns ; and if itis rightly determined (I do not know any other 
deer it can be referred to), it has a verymuch smaller and slighter 
impression for the tear-gland than the other two species, and 
therefore it is probably distinct ; but it would be very desirable 
to obtain other specimens. 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 


ROYAL SOCIETY. 


Feb. 20, 1873.—Rear-Admiral Richards, C.B., Vice-President in 
the Chair. 


“On the Anatomy and Histology of the Land-Planarians of 
Ceylon, with some Account of their Habits, and a Description 
of two new Species, and with Notes on the Anatomy of some 
European Aquatic Species.” By H. N. Mosrrey, M.A., Exeter 
College, Oxford. 


The writer commences by expressing his great obligations to 
Professor Rolleston, whose pupil he formerly was. Professor 
Rolleston first informed him of the existence of Land-Planarians 
in Ceylon, and of the importance of investigating them. The 
paper was at first imtended to be a joint one; and Professor 
Rolleston himself made a number of preparations of Rhynchodemus, 
one of which is figured. He likewise rendered great aid in the 
bibliography, and by constant suggestions and assistance during 
the progress of the work. 

Two new species of Land-Planarians from Ceylon are described : 
—one belonging to the genus Bipalium (Stimpson), B. Ceres; the 
other to that of Rhynchodemus, R. Thwaitesii, so called after Mr. 
G. H. K. Thwaites, F.R.S., the illustrious curator of the Peradeniya 
Gardens, by whose assistance the specimens made use of were 
procured. é 

Lists are given of all the known species of Bipaliwm and Rhyncho- 
demus, and also a map to show the distribution of Bepalewm in’ space. 


On the Anatomy of the Land-Planarians of Ceylon. 311 


With regard to the habits of Bipalium, the most interesting 
facts noted are that these animals use a thread of their body- 
slime for suspension in air, as aquatic Planarians were observed 
to do for their suspension in water by Sir J. Dalyell, and the 
cellar-slug does for its suspension in air. The projection of 
small portions of the anterior margin of the head in the form 
of tentacles, originally observed by M. Humbert, becomes interest- 
ing in connexion with the discovery of a row of papille and ciliated 
pits in that region. The anatomy of the Planarians was studied by 
means of vertical and longitudinal sections from hardened specimens. 
The skin in Bipaliwm and Rhynchodemus closely conforms to the 
Planarian type, but is more perfectly differentiated histologically 
than in aquatic species, and approaches that of the leech in the 
distribution, colour, and structure of its pigment, and especially 
in the arrangement of the glandular system. The superficial 
and deep glandular system of the leech are both here represented. 
In B. Ceres peculiar glandular structures exist, which may fore- 
shadow the segmental organs of Annelids, it being remembered 
that these segmental organs are solid in an early stage of develop- 
ment. Rod-like bodies (Stiibchen or stibchenférmige Koérper) are 
present in abundance, though, singularly enough, Max Schultze 
failed to find any in Geoplana. These rod-like bodies are probably 
homologous with the nail-like bodies of Nemertines ; and it is pos- 
sible that the sete of Annelids are modifications of them. No 
light is thrown by the structure of these bodies in Bipalium on 
the question whether they are homologous with the urticating 
organs of Ccelenterata. 

The muscular arrangement in Bipaliwm, which is very complex, 
throws great light on the homologies between the muscular layers 
of Turbellaria and those of other Vermes. It is commonly said 
that whilst in all other Vermes the external muscular layer is 
circular, and the longitudinal internal, in Turbellarians the reverse 
is the case. A wide gulf is thus apparently placed between these 
groups. In Bipalium there is an external circular muscular coat, 
which even presents the same imbricated structure which is found 
in it in leeches and other worms. In Dendrocelum lacteum there 
is also an external circular coat. In cases where a distinct 
external circular muscular coat is absent, it is represented by a 
thick membrane, which is very probably contractile. The ques- 
tion resolves itself simply into a more or less perfect fibrillar 
differentiation of that membrane. All Turbellarians are built on 
the same essential type, as regards muscular arrangement, as are 
other worms. The general muscular arrangements in the bodies 
of the Bipalium and Rhynchodemus have become much modified 
from those of flat Planarians by the pinching together and 
condensation of the body; but they are nevertheless referable to 
the same type. 

The digestive tract consists of three tubes (one anterior, two 
posterior), as in other Planarians, and as in the embryo leech 
before the formation of the anus. Characteristic of land-Planarians, 


312 Royal Society :— 


and consequent on the condensation of the body, is the absence of 
all diverticula from the inner aspects of the two posterior digestive 
tubes. This is found to be the case in Geoplana, Bipalium, 
Rhynchodemus, and Geodesmus. The close approximation of the 
intestinal diverticula in Bipalivm and Rhynchodemus, and the 
reduction of the intervening tissue to a mere membranous 
septum is very striking, and seems to foreshadow the con- 
dition of things in Annelids. The great difference in the form 
of the mouth in Rhynchodemus and Bipalium is also remarkable, 
considering the many points in which these forms are closely allied. 

A pair of large water-vascular trunks, or, as they are here 
termed, primitive vascular trunks, are conspicuous objects in 
transverse sections of the bodies of Bipaliwm and Rhynchodemus. 
A peculiar network of connective tissue is characteristic of these 
vascular canals on section, and is shown to present exactly similar 
features in Leptoplana tremellaris, Dendroceelum lacteum, and Bothrio- 
cephalus latus. The close agreement in the relative position of 
the oviducts to the vascular canals in Dendrocelum and our land- 
Planarians is very remarkable. This primitive vascular system 
is homologous with the body-cavity present in the embryo leech 
and in Branchiobdella throughout lite. It is not necessarily an 
excretory system, though the term water-vascular system has 
been generally considered to imply such a function for it. The 
nerves and ganglia of Planarians lie within the primitive vascular 
‘system, as do the corresponding structures within the primitive 
body-cavity of the leech. 

Branches from the primitive vascular system in Bipalium serve 
to erect the penis, and probably supply the glandular tissue with 
fluid for secretion; others possibly proceed to the ciliated sacs 
in the head, and perform an excretory function. A small marine 
Planarian was found to contain hemoglobin. In Bipaliwm there 
are a series of separate testes disposed in pairs, as in the leech. 
In Rhynchodemus the testicular cavities are more closely packed, 
and follow no such definite arrangement. The ovaries are simple 
sacs in both Bipalium and Rhynchodemus, and are placed very 
far forward in the head, a long distance from the uterus. In 
Bipalium short branches given off from the posterior portions of 
the oviduct are the rudiments of a ramified ovary, such as exists 
in Dendrocelum lactewm. There are also glands present, which 
probably represent the yelk-glands and shell-making glands of 
aquatic Planarians in a more or less rudimentary condition. There 
is a comparatively simple penis and female receptive cavity in 
both Bipalium and Rhynchodemus. In Bipaliwm there is, further, 
a glandular cavity at the base of the penis (prostate). The organs 
described as nervous ganglia by Blanchard in Polycladus are 
almost certainly its testes and ovaries; and therefore the arrange- 
ment of these bodies in Polycladus is the same as that im 
Bipalium. 

The chain of nervous ganglia described as existing in Bipaliumn 
(Sphyrocephalus) by Schmarda, and which has been referred to 


On the Anatomy of the Land-Planarians of Ceylon. 313 


by so many authors, does not exist. There is no doubt that 
Schmarda mistook the ovaries and testes for ganglia. The real 
nervous system fs ill-defined, but appears to consist of a network 
of fibres without ganglion-cells, which lies within the primitive 
vascular canals. In Leptoplana tremellaris the structure of the 
ganglionic masses is remarkably complex in the arrangement of 
the fibres ; and well-defined ganglion-cells of various sizes are pre- 
sent and have a definite arrangement. 

Numerous eye-spots are present in Bipaliwm, most of them 
being grouped in certain regions in the head, but some few being 
found all over the upper surface of the body, even down to the 
tail. The eye-spots appear to be formed by modification of single 
cells. In Rhynchodemus two eyes only are present. All gradations 
would appear to exist, between the simple unicellular eye-spot 
of Bipaliwm and the more complex eye of Leptoplana or Gieodesmus, 
where the lens is split up into a series of rod-like bodies, forming 
apparently a stage towards the compound eyes of Articulata. 
It is quite probable that these compound eyes have arisen by such 
a splitting-up into separate elements of a single eye, and not by 
fusion of a group of unicellular eyes, such as those of Bipalium. 
A peculiar papillary band runs along the lower portion of the 
margin of the head of Bipalium. The delicate papille are in the 
form of half cylinders, ranged vertically side by side. Between 
the upper extremities of the papille are the apertures of peculiar 
ciliated sacs. The papille, from the mode in which the animal 
makes use of them, are probably endowed with a special sense- 
function. The sacs may have a similar office, or they may be in 
connexion with the primitive vascular system, and have an excre- 
tory function; they may further be homologous with the ciliated 
tubes in Nemertines. 

In considering the general anatomy of Bipalium, it is im- 
possible to help beg struck bythe many points of resemblance 
between this animal and a leech. Mr. Herbert Spencer has, in 
his ‘ Principles of Biology,’ placed a gulf between Planarians and 
Leeches by denoting the former as secondary, the latter as tertiary 
aggregates, so called because consisting of a series of secondary 
aggregates formed one behind the other by a process of budding. 
It is obvious, however, that a single leech is directly comparable to 
a single Bipalium. The successive pairs of testes, the position 
of the intromittent generative organs, the septa of the digestive 
tract, and, most of all, the pair of posterior cxca are evidently 
homologous in the two animals. Further, were leeches really 
tertiary aggregates, the fact would surely come out in their 
development, or at least some indication of the mode of their 
genesis would survive in the development of some annelid. Such, 
however, is not the case. The young worm or leech is at first 
unsegmented, like a Planarian; and the traces of segmentation 
appear subsequently in it, just as do the protovertebr in verte- 
brates which Mr. Spencer calls secondary aggregates. If Mr. 
Spencer’s hypothesis were correct, we should expect to find at least 


314 Royal Society. 


some Annelid developing its segments in the egg as a series of 
buds. It is not, of course, here meant to be concluded that 
Annelids are not sometimes in a condition of tertiary aggrega- 
tion, as Nais certainly is when in a budding condition, but that 
ordinarily they are secondary and not tertiary aggregates; and if 
so, then so also are Arthropoda. 

Much more information concerning the anatomy of Planarians 
will be required before it will be possible to trace the line of descent 
otf Bipakium and Rhynchodemus, and determine what was the 
form of their aquatic ancestors. In the absenee of accurate 
accounts of the structure of the American Land-Planarians, and 
even of the European Rhynchodemus terrestris, the question is 
very puzzling. The formation of either one of the two forms 
Bipalium or Rhynchodemus might be accounted for with com- 
parative ease, from the arrangement of parts in the flat head 
of Bipalium. From the tree-like branching of the digestive tract 
in that region, the corresponding ramification of the vascular 
system, and general muscular arrangement, it might be imagined 
that Bipaliwn had come from a flattened parent of the common 
Planarian form, and that all the body except the head had become 
rounded and endowed with an ambulacral line. In nearly all 
points, except the eyes and the absence of branches to the oviduct, 
Bipalium seems more highly specialized than Rhynchodemus. We 
might imagine that Rhynchodemus and Bipalium had a common 
parent, and that when an ambulacral line was just beginning to be 
developed the two forms took different lines — Rhynchodemus 
losing all traces of the original flatness of its ancestor, and never 
developing any ciliated sacs or papille, but cherishing a single 
pair of large eyes at the expense of all the rest which it “possessed, 
its testes, moreover, remaining in a comparatively primitive con- 
dition. But then comes the difficulty about the great difference 
in shape in the pharynxes of the two forms ; and if it be suggested 
that, as is highly probable, several or many aquatic Planarians have 
taken to terrestrial habits, and that Bipalium has been derived 
from a form like ZLeptoplana, with a folded pharynx, whilst 
Rhynchodemus came from an ancestor with a tubular one, it is 
difficult to account for the many points of close resemblance 
between these two forms, and especially their similarity in ex- 
‘ternal colouring, though this latter may perhaps be explained by 
mimicry. On the whole, it is evident that a close study of the 
anatomy of Land-Planarians cannot fail to lead to interesting 
results ; and it is hoped that this memoir may lead to further 
work of the same kind. It would be of especial value to have 
a good account of the anatomy of Geodesmus and Rhynchodemus 
sylvaticus. 


Miscellaneous. 315 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Fabulous ‘Australian Animals. By Gerarp Krerrt. 
|T' the Editor of the Sydney Mail. 


Bunyres and fabulous animals and the remains of some beast found 
in the maw of a shark by Dampier, at Shark’s Bay, were no doubt 
referable to a dugong. Dampier’s ‘‘ racoons” are of course “ wal- 
labies.” The “ guana” is probably our large “ water-lizard ” (Phy- 
signathus Lesueurti). The “stump-tailed lizards” are the western 
Trachydisaurus rugosus, good to eat, though Dampier did not like 
their looks. The birds figured represent an avocet, two terns, and 
an oyster-catcher. ‘The ‘ hippopotamus ” head (and “ boans ’’) with 
hairy lips, with two teeth, eight inches long and as big as a man’s 
thumb, were a dugong’s upper incisor ‘teeth, being correctly de- 
scribed ‘ small at one end andja little crooked.” A dugong-authority 
says :—‘‘ The front portion of the upper and lower jaws of a dugong 
is covered (in the recent state) with a horny covering. The whole 
substance is composed 6f bristles about one-eighth of an inch in 
length.’ (Knox, Cat. Pref. 37, 1838.) 

With regard to my remarks about the salmon, I repeat that the 
salmon (Salmo salar) has not yet been successfully introduced into 
Tasmania. I would advise my friends, if they have more money to 
spend, to try Californian salmon-ova. The imported ‘ carp” and 
‘tench,’ and the “common European perch”, have made havoc 
with the native fishes in Tasmanian rivers. Why are not some of 
our perch obtained? They would at least be “ Australian,” and far 
superior to the Kuropean freshwater fishes, 

I also mentioned ‘* Tasmanian tigers” as about to be discovered 
in the far north. Let me explain in a few words that these tigers 
are “an illusion and a snare.” 

Mr. Walter J. Scott, of Herbert Vale, Cardwell, communicates to 
the London Zoological Society the imprint of certain tracks of some 
unknown visitor, ‘* who roared,” &c. (Proceedings Zoological Society, 
1872, p. 355). Concluding his remarks to Dr. Sclater, the secretary, 
Mr. Scott states thus :—‘ I think that I have already mentioned to 
you that a bullock-driver of ours, as long ago as 1864, came in one 
day with a story that he had seen a tiger ; but as he was a notorious 
liar, we did not believe a word of it at the time. Yet it is possible 
he may really have seen the same animal, which must, I think, from 
its claws, be allied to the Tasmanian thylacine.” 

Mr. Hull, licensed surveyor, who supplied the footprints of the 
“ native tiger ” which the Zoological Society engraved and published, 
has correctly figured the impression of the fore foot of a dog. This 
is interesting, and proves that there are dogs at Cardwell, in Northern 
Queensland. If your readers will allow me, I can point out the 
difference between the foot of a native Tasmanian tiger and a dog. 
Every dog’s fore foot marks four toes, like the Zoological Society’s 
drawing ; but a Tasmanian tiger marks five. 


316 Miscellaneous. 


“ Bushmen” may argue that the marks were those of the “hind 
foot ” of a “ tiger,” which has only four toes, though few bushmen 
probably know it; but I reply that in the four-toed hind foot of a 
thylacine the whole “sole” of the foot goes on to the ground. I advise 
Mr. Scott “ to give it up,” and catch the roaring tiger first before he 
puts the society to further expense in illustrating “‘ footprints of dog’s 
feet.” 


Preliminary Descriptions of three new Species of Cetacea from the 
Coast of California. By W. H. Dart, U.S. Coast Survey. 
Delphinus Bairdii, n. sp. 

Back, posterior sides, fins, and flukes black; anterior sides grey, 
with two narrow white lateral stripes; a white lanceolate belly- 
patch. Dorsal falcate; beak slender, elongated. Length 6 feet 
7 inches to 6 ft. 9in. Length of skull 18°76 in.; length of beak 
before the notches 11:9 in. ; height of skull at vertex 6in.; greatest 
breadth at zygomatic process of squamosals 6°95 in. ; breadth between 
maxillary notches 3:4 in., ditto at middle of beak 2 in. Teeth $3; the 
anterior six on each side very small, not projecting above the gums. 

Two female specimens, Cape Arguello, California (Secammon, 1872), 
of which one entire skeleton has been forwarded to the National 
Museum at Washington. 

This species belongs to the restricted genus Delphinus of Gray, 
and is peculiar from its extremely attenuated beak and very deep 
channels on each side of the palate behind. The superior aspect of 
the skull resembles that of Clymenia microps, Gray. It differs from 
all the described species of the genus in colour and osteological cha- 
racters, and will be fully described in the forthcoming monograph of 
the Pacific Cetacea by Capt. C. M. Scammon, U.S.R.M., to whom I 
am indebted for the opportunity of describing this and the following 
species. It is dedicated, by request of Capt. Scammon, to Prof. 8. F. 
Baird, of the Smithsonian Institution. 


Tursiops Gilli, n. sp. 
Dull black, lighter on the belly. Dorsal low, faleate. Teeth *e 


Monterey, California. 

Lower jaw: length from end of beak to condyles 16:8 in., ditto 
to end of coronoid process 15:8 in., ditto to end of tooth-line 9:3 in. ; 
length of symphysis 2 in.; width between outer edges of condyles 
9°75 in., between two posterior teeth 3-5 in.; height of ramus at 
coronoid process 44 in. 

The material for identification of this species is unfortunately 
very small, being only the lower jaw and outlines of the animal 
drawn byCapt. Scammon. It does not appear tohave been described; 
and the only other species of the genus described from the Pacific is 
the 7. catalania, Gray, from N.W. Australia, which is described as 
being lead-coloured. It is dedicated to Prof. Theodore Gill, of the 
Smithsonian Institution, whose memoirs on the Cetacea and Pinni- 
pedia of the Pacific are already classical, by desire of Capt. Scammon. 


Miscellaneous. S17 


Grampus Stearnsii, n.sp. 


Colours dark, but variable ; the anterior portion of the body white, 
and the sides of the body more or less mottled with grey. Dorsal 
high and slightly faleate. Animal 12 or 15 feet long ; teeth $ or 4. 

Coast of California. 

Two lower jaws of this animal are in my hands for examination ; 
and, but that no Grampus has been described from the Pacific, I 
should hesitate about applying a specific name to them. Gray has, 
indeed, catalogued a Grampus (?) sakamata (!) from Japan, based on 
a Japanese account quoted by Schlegel; but the genus is by 
no means certain, the descriptions are conflicting, and the species 
rests on no scientific basis. The jaws referred to are attributed by 
Captain Scammon to his “ white-headed grampus,” and measure 
from the end of the beak to the condyles 17:5 in., ditto to coronoid 
process 16-2 in.; height of ramus at coronoid process 5 in. ; length 
of symphysis 2 in.; height of gonys 2 in.; width between outer 
corners of condyles 14 in., ditto at inferior dental foramen 7 in. 
Teeth in one specimen three, and in the‘other,four on each side 
near the tip, pointed, solid, shaped like an orange-seed, and extending 
forward and outward. 

Fuller descriptions of this and the last species will be given in the 
work referred to. The present species is dedicated, by Capt. Scam- 
mon’s wish, to Mr. R. E. C. Stearns of San Francisco, well known 
for his researches in natural history.—Proceedings of the Califorma 
Academy of Sciences, Jan. 29, 1873. 


On Hypermetamorphosis in Palingenia virgo, and on the Analogies 
of its Larva with the Crustacea. By M.N. Jory. 


M. Joly has ascertained that the larva of Palingenia virgo, when 
just hatched, has no visible nervous system, no circulatory apparatus, 
and no organs of respiration. The antenne and the caudal sete 
have not yet the number of joints or the villosity which they will 
afterwards acquire. The branchie appear at a subsequent period in 
the form of little tubular cxeca placed at the posterior angles of the 
first six segments of the abdomen. These tubular branchie after- 
wards become converted into membranous expansions, which act 
not only as organs of respiration, but also as very powerful locomo- 
tive organs. The circulation, which had at first manifested itself as 
a simple oscillation of the blood, becomes perfected, and the contrac- 
tions of the dorsal vessel become very visible. 

These facts have probably the merit of novelty as regards the spe- 
cies under investigation; but the author is mistaken in supposing 
them to be new in the history of insects. M. Joly seems to be igno- 
rant of the memoirs on the development of insects which have been 
published out of France during the last ten years. Especially he 
was unacquainted with the remarkable observations of Sir John 
Lubbock on Chloéon dimidiatum, an Ephemeride nearly allied to 
Palingenia virgo. The English naturalist has described in the 
greatest detail the numerous moults of the larva, the increase in 


318 Miscellaneous. 


the number of joints of the antennx and caudal sete, the curious 
development of the eyes, the appearance of the respiratory organs 
and their gradual transformation, &c. Not one of the points touched 
on by M. Joly, but has been already treated with,a master hand 
by Lubbock. Every thing seems to go on in an identical manner in 
the two larve, except as regards the caudal sete. Thus M. Joly 
figures an embryo of Palingema, artificially released from the egg 
before hatching, in which we see the three caudal sete equal to 
each other; in the Chloéon, on the contrary, only the two lateral 
filaments exist in the very young larva, the median filament being 
developed only at a later period and gradually. The metamorphosis 
is therefore more complete in this respect in Chloéon than in Palin- 
genia. This difference is not of great importance, and would not 
have sufficed to lead us to dwell upon M. Joly’s memoir; but the 
conclusions which the author draws from his observations seem to us 
to be erroneous and to require contradiction. 

M. Joly thinks he has discovered a new case of hypermetamorphosis, 
and tries to find in the development of Palingenia evidence of a trans- 
ition between Insects and Crustacea. 

How can the development of the larvee of the Ephemeride, which 
takes place so gradually, without sudden and strongly marked trans- 
formations and without the intercalation of pupoid forms, be com- 
pared with that of Sttaris,in which M. Fabre has ascertained the 
existence of a primitive larva, a second larva, a pseudo-pupa, and a 
third larva, forms which mark so many phases clearly separated 
from each other? In the Cantharide there are metamorphoses 
during the larval state; in the Ephemeride there are only changes 
of skin accompanied by those gradual changes which constitute pre- 
cisely the character of the Insecta Hemimetabola. If we should 
apply the name of hypermetamorphosis to the larval development of 
the Ephemerid, which is so continuous and so graduated, what 
name shall we have to coin for the curious transformations of the 
Pteromaline described by Ganin ?* 

As to the transition between the Insects and Crustacea, which the 
author desires to establish upon vague analogies between certain 
systems of organs, it seems to us to be rather rash. We can suppose 
the existence of a common stock from which the Insecta and the 
Myriopoda would have originated, or at least a portion of the latter. 
These two classes are bound together in existing nature by the Or- 
thoptera (Thysanura) on the one hand and the Chilopoda on the 
other. The genera which form the bridge between the two groups 
are Nicoletia, Campodia, Scolopendrella (S. immaculata), and perhaps 
Pauropus. It is even difficult to decide absolutely whether Scolo- 
pendrella should be referred to one class or the other. But the 
affinities between the Orthoptera and the Crustacea are certainly 
much more distant, and we must ascribe the value of homologies to 
mere superficial analogies.—A. Humpert, Bibl. Univ. December 15, 
1872, Bull. Scr. p. 415. 

* “Beitrage zur Erkenntniss der Entwickelungsgeschichte bei den In- 
sekten,” Zeitschr. fiir wiss. Zool. Bd. xix. (1869) pp. 881-451. 


Miscel laneous. 319 


Deep-water Fauna of Lake Michigan. By P. R. Hoy, M.D. 


At a distance of sixteen to twenty miles off Racine the water in 
Lake Michigan is from fifty to seventy fathoms deep. The bottom, 
at these depths, is composed of an impalpable dark-coloured mud, 
interspersed with depressions containing quantities of partially 
decayed leaves intermingled with the muddy deposits. It is on these 
‘‘mud flats” that the fishermen capture, in gill-nets, the largest and 
finest whitefish and trout. 

The food of the whitefish had never been ascertained. In order 
to solve this problem, I secured large quantities of the stomachs of 
fish caught in various depths; by diluting the ingesta, I was enabled 
to determine on what the fish subsisted. During these investiga- 
tions I became deeply interested in the new forms of animal life that 
swarmed in the deep water—fish that never visit the shore, crusta- 
ceans that live only in the profound depths of the lake. I discovered 
three species of fish, four species of small crustaceans, and one mol- 
lusk, all new to science. ‘The fish I sent to the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution at Washington: they were placed in the hands of that accom- 
plished naturalist, Prof. Theodore Gill, who described and named 
them. 

When I sent the fish to Prof. Baird, I asked him to whom I 
should send the crustaceans? who was the best authority on that 
branch of natural history? His answer was, we had in the West 
the very man, the best authority in America on the Crustacea, Dr. 
William Stimpson, Secretary of the Chicago Academy of Science. I 
record here this fact in justice to Prof. Stimpson and the West. 

Two of the fish belong to the genus Argyrosomus, a genus pro- 
posed by Agassiz to include that section of whitefish having a pro- 
jecting under jaw. 

The Argyrosomus Hoy, Gill, is the smallest of the whitefish so far 
found in any of the great lakes, it being only about 8 inches in 
length, and weighing one fourth of a pound. The “ Mooneye,” as it 
is called by the fishermen, is an excellent pan-fish; but its small size 
renders it unsuitable for market. ‘Trout devour large numbers of 
these little beauties, as they constitute a large share of their food. 
The Mooneye is only found in water over forty fathoms. 

The Black-fin, Argyrosomus nigripinnis, Gill, is a large and beau- 
tiful fish, having black fins. It has never been caught in less than 
sixty, and does not occur abundantly in less than seventy fathoms. 
During the summer of 1871 there was not a single Black-fin taken 
off Racine, as the fishermen did not go so far into the lake as they 
did the previous season. 

The third species of fish was taken from the stomach of a trout, 
caught in the deepest water. It belongs to the Cottus family, and 
is closely allied to T'riglopsis Thompsonii, Girard, if not identical. 
Triglopsis Thompsonvi was taken (by Prof. Baird) from the stomach 
of a Lota maculosa caught in Lake Ontario in 1850, since which 
time not a specimen has been taken, I am informed by the Professor, 
unless this be the same fish taken now from the trout, as before 
mentioned. Prof. Gill thinks it is probably an undescribed species, 


320 Miscellaneous. 


near 7. Thompsonii. If this prove so on further investigation, it 
will be named TJ'riglopsis Sttmpsonit. What is peculiarly interesting 
about this small fish is, that it is a salt-water rather than a fresh- 
water form. Judging from the quantity of fragments belonging to 
this species obtained from the stomachs of trout caught in the deep 
water, it must be by no means rare. 

I submitted the minute crustaceans to Dr. Stimpson, who detected 
three species of freshwater shrimps belonging to the genus Gamma-~ 
rus, and one species of Mysis,a marine genus, many species of which 
are found in the North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. The small 
shell found with the crustaceans, in the stomachs of the whitefish, 
proved to be an undescribed species of Pisidium. 

These discoveries were considered of sufficient importance to justify 
the undertaking of a dredging-expedition. Professors Stimpson and 
Andrews, with Mr. Blatchford, of Chicago, represented the Chicago 
Academy of Science, while Drs. Lapham and Hoy represented the 
Wisconsin Academy of Arts and Letters. 

On the 24th of June, 1870, we steamed into the lake, out of sight 
of land, and spent the entire day in dredging in a most enjoyable 
and, to science, profitablemanner. We procured living specimens of 
those crustaceans which I had previously obtained from the stomachs 
of whitefish. But, with every exertion, we were not able to keep 
them alive above a few hours. Fitted, as they are, to sustain the 
great pressure of from fifty to seventy fathoms of water, when this 
was taken off, death was the inevitable result. 

I here subjoin a catalogue of all the animals thus far known to 
inhabit the deep water off Racine :— 


Salmo amethystus, Mitchel. Gammarus Hoyi, Stimpson. 
Coregonus sapidissimus, Agassiz. brevistilus, Stimpson. 
latior, Agassiz. —— filicornis, Stimpson. 
Argyrosomus Hoyi, Gill. Mysis diluvianus, Stimpson. 
—— nigripinnis, Gill. Pisidium abyssorum, Stimpson. 


Triglopsis Thompsonii, Girard. 

Also one species of parasitic leech, found fastened to whitefish, 
and a small white Planaria. 

In conclusion, the occurrence of marine forms (Mysis and Tii- 
glopsis) goes far to prove that Lake Michigan was once salt—had 
direct communication with the ocean. As it gradually became ele- 
vated above the sea, it would naturally take many years to expel the 
salt water, especially as its greater specific gravity would cause it to 
sink and remain long in the lake—time sufficient for the animals to 
become acclimated to the changed condition of things. It is barely 
possible that salt springs at the bottom of the lake may have mate- 
rially retarded the change, and that even now there may be brackish 
water in the greatest depths. This seems the more probable, since 
the salt-bearing strata occur in Michigan. We made an effort to 
solve the query ; but, owing to the imperfection of the apparatus, I am 
not certain that the negative was proved.—TZ'rans. Wisconsin Acad. 
Ser. ge. 1870-72, pp. 98-101. 


THE ANNALS 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
[FOURTH SERIES. ] 


No. 65. MAY 1873. 


XXXV.—On the Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo as the 
Basis of Genealogical Classification of Animals, and on 
the Origin of Vascular and Lymph Systems*. By E. Ray 
LANKESTER, M.A., Fellow and Lecturer of Exeter College, 
Oxford. 


A “NATURAL” classification in modern zoology—in the 
zoology which recognizes in the various forms of living things 
the expression of one part of the general result proceeding from 
the continuous operation of physical forces—is a genealogical 
tree. In this tree, as in a family pedigree, no arbitrary 
arrangement is admissible, no association or separation of 
organic forms in harmony with theories of types, or with 
reference to symmetry and the vested interests of subkingdoms, 
classes, and orders. The simple questions are :—Have we 
grounds for believing this lot of forms to have a common an- 
cestry with that lot ? Which of these, again, give evidence of 
closer kinship? and which represent diverging lines of descent ? 

The evidence at our disposal for answering these questions 
satisfactorily, with regard to the innumerable varieties of 
plants and animals, is at the present time small indeed, but is 
increasing with great rapidity. 

The fact that we are able to classify organisms at all in ac- 
cordance with the structural characteristics which they present 
is due to the fact of their being related by descent; and the 


* The substance of the following pages formed part of a course of 
lectures on the classification of animals, commenced in the University 
Museum, Oxford, during Michaelmas term, 1872. 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4, Vol. xi. 21 


322 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the 


classifications in vogue before the recognition of the origin of 
organic forms by descent may be regarded as unconscious 
attempts to answer the questions above put before they had 
been rightly formulated. 

The chief means which the naturalist at present possesses of 
making out the genealogical tree of the animal kingdom lie 
in the fact that the individual animals living at the present day, 
in the process of reproduction, revert to the original simple 
condition (or nearly so) from which they have in the course of 
long ages been evolved as specific forms. The doctrine of 
evolution teaches us that at a certain period in the history of 
this planet such albuminoid substances as protoplasm came, by 
gradual building-up, into existence. From such protoplasm, 
by slow continuous development, due to its properties of heredity 
and adaptation, all living forms have proceeded by direct 
descent. Strangely enough, a simple spheroid of protoplasm 
(nucleated or not) is the form under which the detached repro- 
ductive particle of each living organism makes its appearance, 
and from such a spheroid every individual living thing has 
been more or less directly developed within the space of a few 
days or weeks. In passing from this simple condition to its 
adult form the individual goes through a series of changes, which 
are now explained by what may be termed “the recapitulation 
hypothesis,’ which supposes that the individual organism 
in thus developing repeats more or less completely the successive 
series of forms which its ancestry has presented in the course 
of past ages; in fact the development of the individual is an 
epitome of the development of the species. This tendency to 
recapitulate, which is the fullest expression of the phenomenon 
termed heredity, is liable to be masked in its effects in two 
chief ways, due to adaptation—namely, the tendency to develop 
directly to the adult form without exhibiting any ancestral 
phases, and the tendency to develop evanescent organs for the 
temporary wants of the young organism. The discrimination 
of the appearances due to these distinct factors is the task of 
modern embryology. It isclear that in proportion as this can 
be effected we have in our hands in the recapitulation hypo- 
thesis the means of determining the pedigree of all organisms. 

Comparative anatomy (the morphology of adult organisms), 
so far as it establishes identity of structure in certain groups 
of organisms, widens the significance of a developmental history 
worked out in one member of such a group, and furnishes 
suggestions of the highest value in the disentanglement of the 
hereditary and adaptational factors of such a history. 

The remains of extinct forms have a specially suggestive 
value ; but paleontology as a whole, taken in connexion with 


Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 323 


the study of geographical distribution, furnishes, with regard to 
such groups of organisms as have been preserved in the con- 
dition of fossils, a distinct and independent mass of evidence, 
enabling the naturalist to sketch out parts of the genealogical 
tree, thus supplementing and independently reiterating the 
conclusions drawn from embryology. 

It is only within the last ten, or, we may almost say, the 
last five years that the development of animals, especially of 
the Invertebrata, has begun to be studied with the requisite 
minuteness. Stimulated by the Darwinian theory and the 
recapitulation hypothesis, naturalists are beginning to apply 
the highest powers and new methods* of examination to the 
study of the development of all kinds of organisms, so as to 
trace out cell by cell the complete ‘history of the elaboration 
of the complex adult from the simple ovum. It is only now 
that the first changes in the egg (the first dispositions of the 
embryonic cells) are becoming known in a sufliciently widely 
varied series of forms to enable the naturalist to form genera- 
lizations. It is only by slow degrees that those species are 
being found out which conserve precious. records in their 
pregnant infancies, often not even hinted by the uneventful life- 
histories of their nearest congeners. A commencement only has 
been made, but one of great promise, by the researches of 
Fritz Miiller (‘Fiir Darwin’), Weissmant, Kowalewsky f, Ed. 
van Beneden§, Hickel||, and others, from which we may, I 
think, draw conclusions of the greatest importance for genea- 
logical classification. 

It would not be surprising if the facts of development were 
to lead to another primary grouping of the animal kingdom 
than that indicated in the four Cuvierian types or the six or 
seven types now generally adopted, or should assign to 
those great divisions unequal significance. They are con- 
fessedly groupings based upon the anatomy of the adult or- 

* The method of hardening the developing egg, imbedding it in a 
matrix, and then cutting thin sections, has only quite recently been ap- 
plied to Invertebrata, chiefly by Russian naturalists. 

+ Embryology of the Diptera (Zeitschr. fiir wiss. Zool. 1865-66). 

{ A series of papers, in the Memoirs of the Imperial Academy of St. 
Petersburg (1867-71), on the development of Ctenophora, Ascidia, Amphi- 
oxus, Sagitta, Euaxes, Lumbricus, Apis, and Hydrophilus. 

§ A series of papers on the development of the Gregarina of the lobster 
and of various Crustacea (Nebalia, Mysis, Sacculina, &c.), in the Bulletins 
of the Belgian Academy, 1869-72. Also prize memoir, in the same 
Academy’s Transactions, on “ The Signification of the Parts of the Egg.” 

|| Monograph of the Monera, Jenaische Zeitschr. 1868 ; Generelle Mor- 


phologie, 1867 ; The Organization of the Sponges and their Relationship 
to the Corals, Jenaische Zeitschr., and Ann, & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1870, v. 


pp. 1 & 107. 
21% 


324 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the 


ganism ; and therefore necessarily there has been a tendency in 
forming them to attach great importance to distinct plans of 
structure due to a secondary adaptation, whilst the fundamental 
community of organization has been ignored with something 
like intention. Von Baer’s coincidence with Cuvier in his 
establishing four modes of development, marking out groups 
of the same value as the latter’s ““embranchements,” is due to 
the fact that fifty years ago the condition of biological science 
did not allow even the great philosophic student of embryology 
to go more deeply into the problem. He pointed out four 
modes in which the later adaptation of animals may proceed ; 
but he was unable at that time to bring into consideration the 
details of the previous stages of the history. It was under his 
immediate influence that the invaluable memoirsof Kowalewsky 
have been produced. 

It is, then, to be borne in mind that the four types of Baer 
and Cuvier represent essentially four modes of mechanical 
adaptation, and might be assumed, as, indeed, insome cases they 
are, by organisms exhibiting divergent characters of an earlier 
and more fundamental character. The doctrine of “ unity of 
type,” which has from time to time been put forward by oppo- 
nents of Cuvier, seems to be in closer agreement with the facts 
made known by recent embryological study than the more 
widely received dogma of a plurality of types. Already the 
most eminent of German anatomists, Professor Gegenbaur, has, 
in the second edition of his Comparative Anatomy (1870), 
adopted an arrangement of the seven great divisions of the 
animal kingdom which indicates this inequality in their relative 
value as branches of a genealogical tree. Whilst the Protozoa 
stand at the base of the main trunk, and the Ccelenterata 
diverge from this as a primary branch, the Mollusca, Verte- 
brata, Arthropoda, and Echinodermata are depicted as springing 
as four distinct secondary branches from the primary branch, 
represented by the heterogeneous and feebly marked group 
Vermes. This filiation of the five highest groups of the 
animal kingdom is supported on grounds which are chiefly 
anatomical ; and in the pages of this inestimable book facts 
are continually pointed out tending to demonstrate the homo- 
geny of the various organs of all these large groups—in short, 
exhibiting them as modifications of one type. 

The early history of the developing embryo tends con- 
clusively to establish this mode of representing the main 
features of the family tree of the animal kingdom; whilst, 
further, the hypothesis of unity of type (which is to be pre- 
ferred as a preliminary hypothesis on account of its greater 
simplicity as compared with that of a plurality of types) is, in 


Primitive Cell-layers, of the Embryo. 825 


its application to the five higher groups of animals, continually 
receiving newssupport from observation, and seems likely to 
lead into most productive lines of research. 

The early changes in the developing spheroid of protoplasm 
leading to the formation of organs may be summarily stated 
as follows, so as briefly to put in view the fundamental cha- 
racteristics which they present in different groups of the animal 
series. 


Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 


Cytode. Cell. Polyplast without central 
cavity. (Optical section.) 


A. The reproductive spheroid is a non-nucleated particle of 
protoplasm (Cytod, Hek.), which either acquires a nucleus and 
becomes a true cell (Hcek.), or remains in the non-nucleated 
condition ; this latter condition characterizes the Monera or 
Protozoa homogenea, whilst the former is what is observed in 
all the other groups commonly classed as Protozoa (from which, 
however, the Spongida are excluded, since they appear in the 
next section). By differentiation of the primitive substance of 
the plastid (cell or eytode), without fission of the original mass, 
a cuticle and cuticular appendages, muscular fibrous layers, 
cilia, contractile cavities, and, by the segmentation of the 
nucleus, a reproductive germ- or sperm-mass may be former. 
Division of the primary spheroid, when it does take place, 
gives rise to new and separate individual spheroids, or to a 
loosely aggregated colony of such spheroids, to be termed a 
polyplast. In this polyplast there is no arrangement of the 
units into definite layers. 

The organisms whose mode of growth is thus described may 
be distinguished as HOMOBLASTICA. 

Notes to A.—The stock of the Homoblastica thus coincides 
with the Protozoa with the exclusion of the Sponges, and con- 
tains the following chief groups, the genetic affinities of 
which must be hereafter discussed :—1. Homogenea (embracing 


326 Mr. K. Ray Lankester on the 


Hiickel’s Monera as Nuda and the Foraminifera as Testacea) ; 
2. Nucleifera (embracing Ameboidea, Gregarinida, and Catal- 
lacta); 3. Radiolaria or Cytophora (embracing the Heliozoa 
or freshwater Radiolaria, and the Radiolaria proper or marine 
forms); 4. IJnfusoria (embracing the Suctoria and Ciliata, 
excluding the so-called Flagellate Infusoria, which, it seems, 
should be referred to the Volvocinean Alge); 5. Noctilucida 
(Noctiluca and Peridinium). 

We are indebted to Hickel’s monograph in the ‘Jenaische 
Zeitschrift’ (and translated in ‘Quart. Journ. Mier. Sci.’ for 
1869) for the knowledge of the Monera and their reproduction. 
Prof. Ed. van Beneden, of Liége, has given a valuable account 
of the development and structure of a Gregarina from the 
lobster (Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci. 1870 & 1871), from which it 
appears that the reproductive spheroid appears first as a cytode, 
and subsequently acquires a nucleolus and nucleus, whilst 
considerable tissue-differentiation also goes on, though the uni- 
cellular condition is maintained. The high differentiation of 
the Ciliate Infusoriais thus no evidence against their unicellular 
character. 

The development of the Radiolaria is not properly known in 
any case. Hiickel,in his great monograph, and more recently 
Cienkowski (Schultze’s Archiv, 1871, and Quart. Journ. Micr. 
Sci., Oct. 1871) have given some account of the formation of 
spores, which demonstrate the central capsule to be reproductive 
like the nucleus in other groups. If the yellow cells should 
prove to be parasitic, as Cienkowski suggests, then, as in 
colonies of Monera or Catallacta, all the units, with the exception 
of the central reproductive body, would be of coordinate value. 


B. The reproductive sphe- 
roid is at first a nucleated 
particle of protoplasm; in 
some cases it develops from 
a non-nucleated stage. In 
many cases the nucleus dis- 
appears before fertilization. 
Division of the spheroid then 
gives rise toa polyplast. By 
the growth of this polyplast 
either a hollow sphere boun- 
ded by a single layer of cells 
is produced, into which a 
portion of its own wall be- Planula formed by invagination of a 


comes invag inated or tucked, part of the wall of a polyplast with 
as by the adjustment of a central cavity. (Optical section.) 


Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 327 


woven nightcap from its pulled-out to its cap-like condi- 
tion, or the cells arrange themselves in two definitely marked 


Fig. 5. Fig. 6. 


Planula, without ‘rifice, Planula with orifice, which 
formed by direct growth. has broken through. 
(Optical section. ) (Surface view.) 


layers, the inner of which bounds a cavity which subsequently, 
by a breaking through at one pole, communicates with the 
exterior. In either case the result is an organic form charac- 
terized by being constructed of two layers of cells, the inner of 
which lines a cavity opening to the exterior. This cavity is 
the primitive gastric cavity; and the organic form thus 
characterized may be known as the Planula*. 

The production of such a Planula, recognizable under 
extreme modifications of non-essential general shape (one of 
the most common causes of which is the admixture of a large 
mass of secondary yelk with the original egg-cell), is common 
to the developmental history of all animals above the Protozoa. 
But after this there is a divergence ; for whilst there is a further 
development of primitive cells in the Vermes, Mollusks, Echi- 
noderms, Arthropods, and Vertebrates, in the Ccelenterata (in- 
cluding herein the Sponges) these two layers of cells, the 
endoderm and ectoderm, remain throughout life as the basis of 
further histological differentiation, even though in the larger 
forms the ectoderm may largely develop deep layers of a special 
muscular or skeletal nature. The series of forms thus branching 
off from the genealogical tree may be termed DrPLOBLASTICA. 

The endoderm and ectoderm of the polypes and corals was 
recognized first by Professor Huxley, who at the same time 

* It may be advantageous to use the term Grastrula for that condition 


of the Planula when the orifice is present, as Hackel has proposed since 
the above scheme was drawn up. 


328 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the 


pointed out the similarity of these layers to the two primitive 
layers of the Vertebrate embryo. 

Notes to B.—The difference in the two modes of origin of 
the Planula may be due to the dropping of the invagination- 
process as a shortening of the developmental process—that is 
to say, in obedience to the tendency to a direct as opposed 
to arecapitulative development. It 1s, however, to be noticed 
in connexion with this that in the later development of 
special organs we have examples where development occurs 
sometimes by invagination and sometimes by simple accretion, 
and where the bulk of the developing structure appears to 
determine the invagination. Such, for instance, is the case 
with the otocysts or auditory capsules of mollusks. In the 
Nudibranchiates I have satisfactorily determined that their 
cavity does not arise by invagination. On the other hand, in 
the Cephalopod Loligo I have found (what was previously sus- 
pected but undemonstrated) that the otocyst ¢s formed by an 
invagination, the ciliated canal connected with it being a 
remnant of its external communication. ‘The development of 
the nerve-centres also furnishes examples. In Loligo I have 
observed that the cephalic ganglia originate each by invagina- 
tion and formation of a groove and cavity. In Gasteropods 
the corresponding ganglia form by simple thickening of the 
outer layer of cells. ‘The origin of the cerebro-spinal nerve- 
centre of Vertebrates and certain Tunicates, as compared with 
that of Arthropods and notably of certain Annelids (Lumbricus, 
and Huaxes as described by Kowalewsky), offers the same 
contrast. 

It is remarkable that the origin of the primitive gastric 
cavity by invagination has been more widely observed in the 
higher groups, and that in most Coelenterata as yet studied the 
cavity is formed directly. ‘There are exceptions to this among 
Ceelenterata; but in this subject it must be remembered that 
we have as yet very few adequate observations. Among the 
higher groups the observations of Kowalewsky have especially 
established the occurrence of this primitive invagination in 
Amphioxus, in Tunicates, and certain Vermes ; my own ob- 
servations (as yet unpublished) have proved its wide-spread 
occurrence in Mollusca, viz. in the Lamellibranch Cyclas 
pusilla, in several Nudibranchs (Polycera, Holis, Doris, Pleuro- 
branchus), inthe Pulmonates Arion and Limax. The presence 
of accessory yelk is what, more than any thing else, appears 
among the Mollusca to be associated with the suppression of 
the invagination-process. The anus of Rusconi in the de- 
veloping Batrachia among Vertebrata represents the orifice of 
invagination in a somewhat modified condition. 


Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 329 


The observations of Miklucho-Macleay*, which have been 
followed up in a masterly way by his teacher Professor 
. Hiickel of Jena, first demonstrated the relationship of Sponges 
and Ceelenterata. The Planula-embryo of a calcareous sponge 
(Guancha blanca) is made known in Macleay’s paper; 
O. Schmidt has figured that of another (Dunstervillia). The 
embryo of Spongilla, as described by Lieberkiihn, is also a 
Planula. 

The retention of the Diploblastic constitution throughout life 
by the Coelenterata serves as an important fact in determining 
the homogenies of the perigastric and canal systems of the 
corals and medusoids. It is clear enough that they are merely 
diverticula, or portions of the primitive gastric cavity. As 
such they can have no homogenetic, but merely a homoplastic, 
agreement with the vascular and perivisceral systems of higher 
animals, the origin of which will be pointed out below. The 
fluid which they contain will also be seen to be of a different 
nature from chyleor blood, and, in fact, is merely a diluted chyme. 
In the histological differentiation of Coelenterata the outer 
layer of cells gives rise to muscular fibre, and also represents 
a nervous system; in the case of Hydra the fibres are con- 
tinuous with the large ectodermal cells (Kleinenberg), whilst 
in others (Meduse &c.) deep-lying cellular elements of the 
nature of muscular and connective tissue develop from the 
ectoderm. ‘The endodermal cells are confined to vegetative 
functions. ‘The origin of generative products will be discussed 
below. 


C. Development having proceeded, as in the Diploblastica, 
to the production of an ecto- and endoderm, or an epi- and 
hypoblast, with primitive gastric cavity bounded by the latter, 
a third layer of cells makes its appearance between these two, 
whence taking its precise origin is notyet determined. A portion 
of this middle layer becomes more especially adherent to the 
ectoderm, another portion more especially to the endoderm. 
The separation between these two portions of the new mid layer 
may be complete so as to leave a wide cavity, or it may never 
be carried to any extent; but whatever extensive cavity or 
partial channels make their appearance, or whatever mesh- 
bearing or sponge-like character the mesoblast takes on, so as 
to produce an imperfect continuity between its more super- 
ficial and deeper parts, connected and bound together, it may 
be, by branched cells—such cavity, channels, or spongy tissue 
are more or less complete representatives of the blood-lymph 
system. The organisms characterized by the presence of these 


* Jenaische Zeitschrift, 1868, p. 221. 


330 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the 


three primitive layers of cells, which furnish the original 
material for further histological differentiation, may be termed 
‘TRIPLOBLASTICA. : 

In all Triploblastica (Vermes, Echinodermata, Mollusca, 
Vertebrata, Arthropoda) it appears that of the three layers the 
outer (epiblast) gives rise to epidermic structures, sense-organs, 
and the great nerve-centres ; the mid layer (mesodlast) to mus- 
cular tissue, skeletal tissue (varieties of connective tissue and 
cartilage), blood and lymph, and the walls of the cavities in 
which they are held; the innernost layer (hypobdlast) to the 
lining of the gastric or alimentary tract and its diverticula, in 
the form of glands. The primitive orifice of invagination 
(mouth of the Planula) does not persist, either as mouth or, 
as has been erroneously supposed, as anus, but becomes entirely 
closed up, and a new mouth and an anus eat their way into the 
gastric cavity from the exterior, developing thus pharynx and 
terminal intestine. The origin of the generative products is, 
as in the Diploblastica, not ascertained to be exclusively from 
either epiblast or hypoblast. The communication of the meso- 
blastic blood-lymph-cavity, or a part of it, with the exterior 
occurs in all Triploblastica, and is accompanied by an ingrowth 
of the epiblast, which, appearing in the simplest worms as the 
pair of segmental organs or “ciliated excretory tubes,” persists 
in all the subsequent modifications of the type (Echinoderms, 
Arthropods, Mollusks, Vertebrates). 

Notes to C.—The above generalization must be understood 
as resting on a limited number of facts, which, however, are 
being daily increased in number. Attention has been already 
drawn in the notes to B to the frequent masking of the Planula 
stage and invagination-process in this group as well as in the 
preceding one. In the early stages of development of the few 
Vertebrata as yet carefully studied (viz. a few fish, Batrachia, 
and the common fowl) it is only in the Batrachia that evidence 
of the imvagination, and that in a modified condition (see 
Stricker’s valuable paper in ‘Zeitschr. fiir wiss. Zoologie,’ 
vol. xi., 1861), is obtained. It is yet a question, on which 
there is a considerable divergence of opinion, supported in each 
case by careful observation, whether the mesoblast has uni- 
formly the same essential origin in the various groups of the 
Triploblastica. The hypothesis that it has is justifiable in the 
present condition of knowledge as the simplest. We have to 
look for a reconciliation of the opinions based upon interpre- 
tation of observations carried out with different animals, which 
variously point to the derivation of the mid layer from cells of the 
epiblast, from cells of the hypoblast, from original cells of the 
primitive polyplast, or from a new cell-formation in the yelk 


Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 331 


distinct from the cleavage-process (free-cell formation). A 
further comprehension of the accompanying conditions and 
mode of carrying out of the suppression of steps in the historical . 
epitome of the individual’s development will, more than any 
thing else, tend to this result. The non-identity of the mouth 
in Diploblastica and Triploblastica is one of the most curious 
divergences which a comparison of the two groups brings out. 

There is on the whole a satisfactory concordance of testimony 
with regard to the chief tissues and organs to which the three 
layers respectively give rise, if we except the generative 
products. The hypoblast of the Triploblastica retains the 
characters and significance of the Diploblast’s endoderm. The 
fundamental properties of the latter’s ectoderm (musculo-sen- 
sorial layer of Kleinenberg) become distributed between the 
tissues differentiated from epiblast and mesoblast—a fact which, 
whether rightly or wrongly, suggests the ectoderm as the true 
source of origin of the mesoblast ; and, in the case of the earth- 
worm, Kowalewsky’s researches demonstrate this origin con- 
clusively. 

That the generative products arise from cells of the ectoderm 
in Hydra is certain, from Kleinenberg’s careful observations. 
Hickel, on the other hand, has found them derived from the 
endoderm in certain Medusz and in Caleareous Sponges, whilst 
Allman makes the same statement as to some Hydroid polyps. 
That the ovaries and testes in higher animals arise from the 
outer layer is not inconsistent with the fact that they may first 
definitely appear within the limits of the mesoblast. An in- 
growth and intercalation of the cells of the epi- and mesoblast 
at an early period, such as Waldeyer has pointed to, sufficiently 
explains the position of the vertebrate ovary and testis, even 
though they be developed from the epiblast. The position of the 
generative masses of Oligochetous Annelids in their earliest 
phase, as buds of the tissue in immediate contact with the 
nerve-cord, to which I have drawn attention in Chatogaster* 
and Tubifext, is in complete agreement with the view of their 
derivation from cells of the epiblast, when considered in the 
light of Kowalewsky’s admirable demonstration of the ingrowth 
of the epiblast to form the ganglion-chain of Lumbricus and 
Huaxes. 

A true blood-system, or blood-lymph-system as it is better to 
call it in view of the present signification of words, is only 
possible where a mesoblast is developed—that is, in the 'Tri- 
ploblastica. In all Triploblastica it is represented by lacunze 
or channels, or by mere wide-setting of the cellular elements 


* Quart. Journ. Microsc. Science, July 1870. 
+ Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1871, vii. p. 90. 


332 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the 


of the mesoblast, between and around which the movement of 
a fluid, so-called lymph, is possible. 

A blood-lymph-system or series of channels appears in its 
simplest form in the flat-worms, where the main portion of 
those channellings in the mesoblast, sometimes spoken of as 
“‘water-vascular system,’’ must be regarded as the commencing 
differentiation of the blood-lymph vascular system. The true 
nature of these channels is well seen in a transverse section, 
such as that of Bothriocephalus given by Landois (Zeitschr. 
f. Zool. 1872), or such as that of the Planarian Bipalium to be 
described by my friend Mr. Moseley, who assigns to them the 
same importance as is done here. ‘The channels of the water- 
vascular system in these cases are seen in section to be inter- 
sected by long branching cells; they are, in fact, only partial 
excavations of the mesoblastic tissue. Such excavation, carried 
to a greater extent and widened out, ultimately forms the 
‘“nerivisceral space” seen in many Nemerteans, and in all the 
Gephyrea, Cheetopoda, Echinodermata. When parts of this 
excavation remain shut off from parallel parts, and either com- 
municate or do not communicate with the larger sinus-like 
spaces, the conditions are given for the further modification of 
this primitive vascular channelling into distinct blood-vessels, 
lacune, and pericardial sinus-system, as in Mollusks, or into 
a closed vascular system lying within a perivisceral sinus, as 
in Cheetopoda, or (no perivisceral sinus being apparent) into 
closed vessels containing hemoglobin surrounding organs, as 
in some leeches, or, lastly, into great sinus-spaces opening 
through a “lymph-system” into a closed system of blood- 
vessels, as in Vertebrates. 

The orifices of the water-vascular system of the Planarians, 
Cestodes, and Trematodes are, nodoubt with reason, looked upon 
as representing exactly the orifices of the ‘“‘segment-organs”’ 
of the Cheetopoda; but we have no warrant for assuming that 
more than the aperture and a first portion of the “canal” in 
the flat-worms corresponds with the little trumpet-mouthed 
tube which hangs freely in the large perivisceral space of a 
Cheetopod, or such a leech as Branchiobdella. ‘The observed 
facts of development are not conclusive as they at present stand 
as to the origin of the segmental organ of Cheetopoda. Kowa- 
lewsky derives them from the middle layer in the case of 
Euaxes ; but in view of the difficulties of the observation, and 
of adverse considerations furnished by the facts of development 
of apparently homogenous parts in Mollusks and Insects, an 
argument cannot be based upon their mode of development ; 
nor do the facts of development at present established lend 
themselves to the decision of the question whether the flat- 


Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 333 


worms possess in their vascular system the commencement of 
a body-cavity. The most conclusive evidence which can be 
adduced on thematter is the analogy of such a mollusk as Phy/- 
lirhoé, where, as in other Mollusca, the perivisceral cavity is de- 
veloped only as a series of sinuses, of which the pericardium is 
one. or where, as we may say, the perivisceral space is reduced 
to the pericardium. This pericardium is produced at one end 
into a tube or canal ciliated at one part, which opens to the 
exterior. The ciliated tube represents a segment-organ, as 
must be admitted for the renal organ of Mollusca generally, 
and especially for the so-called “hearts” or ‘“oviducts” of 
Brachiopoda. In Phyllirhoé we have, it seems to me, as in 
the flat-worms, the imperfect channellings and spaces of a 
“parenchymatous” body placed in relation with the exterior 
by the segment-organ, the wall of which is not discontinuous 
with that of the channels. It is when the perivisceral space 
becomes large and expanded that the segment-organ floats in 
it with a trumpet-like inner orifice ; on the other hand, when 
the blood-lymph-space is canal-like, then the segment-organ is 
merely its continuation to the exterior. 

Ciliation and contractility, both exhibited by the “water- 
vascular system” in Trematodes, are both familiar characters 
of the perivisceral space when developed on a more capacious 
‘scale. Contractility is of course in the nature of the case, the 
walls of the perivisceral space being muscular. Cilia occur in 
the perivisceral cavity of some Chetopoda and im that of 
Gephyrea, in the primitive mesoblastic cavity of the developing 
Lamellibranch Pisidium and of Aplysia, also in the peritoneal 
(perivisceral) space of the frog. 

The condition of the vascular system in different genera of 
leeches is instructive, tending, as it seems, to bridge over the 
gulf between a simple perivisceral primitive blood-lymph-space 
and the more complicated differentiations of lymphatic systems, 
pleuro-peritoneal cavity, and blood-vascular system to which 
it simultaneously gives rise in higher organisms. The blood- 
lymph-space exists in the common leech as four chief longitu- 
dinal canals, in one of which the nerve-cord lies. The apertures 
of the segment-organs lead into closed pouches, whose cavity is 
also to be reckoned to the blood-lymph-space, though not in 
continuity with its longitudinal portions. In other leeches 
(e. g. Branchiobdella), whilst two of the longitudinal canals are 
retained, excavation iscarried on in the mesoblastic parenchyma 
in such a way as to leave the segment-organs floating trumpet- 
like in a great perivisceral sinus, in which also the nerve-cord 
lies. The longitudinal canals may, as in Hirudo, contain a 
liquid impregnated with hemoglobin, and remain closed from 


334 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the 


communication with the rest of the blood-lymph-system. This 
is very generally the case in Annelids; not so, however, in the 
Gephyrean Sipunculus,wherethetentacular vessel communicates 
periodically with the perivisceral space. In Vertebrates the 
hemoglobin-bearimg or respiratory system and the lymph- 
bearing sinus-system communicate at various points, so that the 
fluid in the former is complex, being comparable to the respi- 
ratory fluid of an Annelid plus its perivisceral fluid. It is hence 
hemochyle or blood-lymph, if we limit the significance of 
“blood” to that which it really connotes, namely the red part 
of the vascular fluid. If such a nomenclature be admissible, 
viz. the limitation of “blood” to the respiratory element, then 
the fluid in the closed vascular system of Annelids would be 
blood, the perivisceral fluid lymph; the perivisceral fluid of Gly- 
cera with its red corpuscles would be blood-lymph or hemo- 
chyle ; the circulatory fluid of Mollusca and Arthropods would 
also be heemochyle, since there is no separation of a respiratory 
element in separate vessels, and in exceptional cases (Solen, 
Planorbis, Chironomus, Chirocephalus, Daphnia) hemoglobin 
does appear in the common circulatory fluid ; the fluid of the 
pleuro-peritoneal cavity, lymphatic canals, and vessels in Ver- 
tebrates would be “lymph,” and its corpuscles, derived, as 
throughout the triploblastic series, from the proliferation of the 
connective-tissue corpuscles lining the walls of the lymph-spaces, ’ 
would be lymph-corpuscles or leucocytes; the fluid in the 
arteries and veins, on the other hand, would be blood-lymph or 
hemochyle, being lymph added to other liquid and corpuscular 
elements, the latter of which are respiratory and impregnated 
with hemoglobin, whence they may be termed ‘‘pneumocytes.”’ 
As an illustration of the point which I wish to urge—viz. 
that the various vascular and sinus systems of Triploblastica 
are not to be regarded as important differentiations, but are 
rather parts of one and the same primary blood-lymph-cavity 
slightly modified or isolated—let me point to two facts. First, 
among polycheetous Annelida we have generally a closed vas- 
cular system and a perivisceral space; in G'lycera, however, 
the shutting off of a part of the blood-lymph-space as a closed 
system does not occur, but we have only the one great peri- 
visceral chamber, with pneumocytes added to its corpuscular 
contents, this change being unaccompanied by any other great 
structural modification; and it is a fact that ‘‘anangian 
genera’’ occur in the same family with others possessing the 
closed set of vessels, e.g. Aphroditacea. Secondly, in a 
parasitic crustacean as yet undescribed, discovered by Prof. 
Edouard van Beneden of Liége, there is developed a closed 
vascular system lying within the regular blood-sinuses, and 


Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 335 


containing, as in the case of Annelids, hemoglobin. The 
exceptional development of such a subdivision of the blood- 
lymph-space, ufparalleled throughout the whole group of Ar- 
thropoda, is additional evidence in favour of the view that the 
primitive blood-lymph-space readily lends itself to the develop- 
ment of variously distributed and communicating vascular 
systems, even systems as special as the ambulacral and respi- 
ratory systems of Echinoderms. 

The relation of the segment-organs to the primitive blood- 
space has already been spoken of. There is considerable 
ground for regarding it as constant throughout the Triploblas- 
tica, as the blood-lymph-space itself is constant. It appears 
under® various modifications as a canal, often ciliated and 
funnel-like, forming a communication between part of the 
blood-lymph-space and the exterior—as, for example, the brown 
tubes and the cloacal tree of Gephyrea, the organ of Bojanus, 
the Fallopian tubes and seminal ducts of sharks, and more 
doubtfully in Echinodermata and Arthropods. 

The Triploblastica not only exhibit this unity of type as 
regards their chief viscera, but there are certain regions of the 
body which must be considered identical in all; especially 
must the prostomium or region in front of the mouth, the axis 
of anterior growth, where it is persistent, be held to be homo- 
genous throughout the series. It is in relation with this 
“‘head-flap”’ that the primitive nerve-centres are developed 
and always make their appearance as the great sensorial gan- 
glion-masses. Already in the free-swimming larvee of some 
Diploblastica, such as Actinia, the prostomium is indicated, 
having a necessary mechanical relation to bilateral symmetry 
when the mouth is placed anteriorly and locomotion is 
parallel with the alimentary axis, though here we must 
not overlook the distinct character of the Diploblastic and 
Triploblastic mouths. The large primitive tentacle of the 
young Actinia is a prostomium, and only loses its superior 
overhanging character as regards the mouth when the animal, 
abandoning locomotive habits, fixes itself and develops other 
processes around the mouth which soon equal the first in size. 
The prostomium in Triploblastica is liable to be suppressed alto- 
gether in the course of individual development, the mouth 
becoming terminal or other modifications arising ; but where it 
does appear it constantly carries the chief organ of sight, 
whilst the auditory sac is prostomial in Turbellarians, but 
metastomial in Tunicates, Vertebrates, and Mollusca. 

The production of individuals of an increased complexity of 
organization among T'riploblastica, by the linear aggregation 
of zooids, produced by budding in the posterior or metastomial 


336 Mr. E. Ray Lankester on the 


axis of growth (tertiary aggregates 
of Herbert Spencer) among Annu- 
losa, and probably (though not 
according to Spencer) among 
Vertebrata, and even some Mol- 
lusca—the process occurring at a 
very early period and its results 
being obscured, or even entirely 
resolved, by later ‘“ integrating” 
development in the two latter 
cases—does not affect the prosto- 
mium, which always has an axis 
of anterior growth. When a 
zooid-segment of a linear tertiary 
ageregate develops a prostomium 
or axis of anterior growth, the 
chain necessarily breaks at that 
oint (Microstomum, Tenia, Nai- 
did, Syllide). The segmenta- 
tion of the prostomial aXIS IN Archiscolex (optical section) : 
Arthropoda and some Annelids, pr, prostomium; pst, metasto- 
which has an appearance of being m™ium; 0, mouth; a, anus; s, 
a zooid-segmentation comparable seomauia OF eXCrOHOEY BEE Er 
; ; ure; ep, epiblast; m, nerve- 
to that of the metastomial axis,on centre; mes, mesoblast ; hyp, 
account of the identity in the hypoblast. 
character of the appendages with 
those of the metastomial axis, has yet to be explained. It 
may be suggested that it is due to a distinct breaking up of 
this axis like the posterior one into zcoid-segments or zoon- 
ites: there is much against this supposition (see Trans. Linn. 
Soc. 1869, “On Chetogaster and dfolosoma”’). Much more 
likely, it seems, is the explanation that the oral aperture shifts 
position, and that the ophthalmic segment alone in Arthro- 
poda represents the prostomium, the antennary and antennular 
segments being aboriginally metastomial and only prostomial 
by later adaptational shifting of the oral aperture. 

The assumption of such a shifting of the oral aperture is 
fully warranted by what has been demonstrated in the case 
of Vertebrata through Kowalewsky’s researches on Am- 
phioxus. It is certain from those observations that the mouth 
of Amphioxus is the first gill-slit or pharyngeal perforation 
of the left side, and has no relation to a mouth such as that 
which appears at an earlier phase of development in the allied 
Ascidian larva, which latter mouth is that of Vermes generally. 
Amphioxus, then, and the Vertebrata have a new oral aperture, 
the old one having been gradually suppressed. Comparative 


Primitive Cell-layers of the Embryo. 337 


osteology and the embryology of higher Vertebrata have long 
made it clear that the vertebrate mouth belongs to the series 
of visceral cleft8; but the significance of this in the comparison 
of Vertebrata and Invertebrata has yet to be fully appreciated. 
The identification of the neural and hemal aspects of Verte- 
brata and Vermes, in the light given by this demonstration of 
Kowalewsky’s as to the distinct character of the mouth in the 
two cases, must lead to most valuable results *. 

The triple basis of histological differentiation, the nerve- 
centres, the alimentary tract, the blood-lymph-spaces, the 
segment-organs, the prostomial and metastomial regions being 
recognizable as homogenous under varied adaptative modifi- 
eations throughout the Triploblastica, is it not probable that 
other parts may still further exhibit that unity of type of the 
included groups which forms our hypothesis? Whilst it 
is necessary always to be on guard against mistaking homo- 
plastic agreements such as clearly must and do exist for 
homogenetic agreements, yet, since the working hypothesis 
must be that of uniformity, as the simpler, we ought to assume 
homogeny or unity of type as explaining similarity in organs 
until research proves it necessary to regard this orthat particular 
case as due to coincidence of adaptative causes. Hence it may 
fairly be suggested that the appendages of Triploblastica, 
appearing under two chief forms as locomotive and respiratory, 
(external gills) are homogenous throughout the series. 

Such an hypothesis opens a very large field for discussion; 
but within certain limits it will not, perhaps, meet with strenuous 
opposition. The gills of Mollusca generally, of Brachiopods, the 
tentacles of Polyzoa, and the gill-tufts of Annelids—again, the 
locomotive appendages of Annelids and Arthropods—or, again, 
the external gills of Vertebrata (embryo Selachians, Batra- 
chians, &c.) and those of Annelids, offer themselves as likely 
enough to prove homogenous ; but since many further embryo- - 
logical inquiries have to be made, and no doubt will be made 
in consequence of these possibilities presenting themselves to 
the imagination of many students of embryology, it will not now 
be useful to discuss them upon the limited evidence at hand. 


Note.—Professor Hiickel, in the final part of his newly 
published splendid monograph of the calcareous Sponges, 
has entered into speculations on the significance of the poly- 
plast and planular stages of development and the development 


* | am indebted to my friend Anton Dohrn for first drawing my atten- 
tion to some of the legitimate consequences of Kowalewsky’s observations 
as to the mouth of Amphiovus. 

+ Ann. Nat. Hist. 1870, vol. vi. (‘On the use of the term Homology”). 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 22 


338 On a new Australian Species of Thyrsites. 


of a body-cavity, which are of the utmost value. He adopts 
a more detailed nomenclature than I have used here, and does 
not take the same view of the water-vascular system of flat- 
‘worms as I have done; but to some extent there is naturally 
coincidence, due to the fact that the material here used in the 
form of facts has been mainly drawn from his other writings 
and those of other German and Russian embryologists. Ihave 
not attempted to discuss Professor Hiickel’s views nor referred 
to his terms, chiefly because the substance of this paper was 
drawn up before the ‘ Kalkschwimme’ appeared. 


XXXVI.—On a new Australian Species of Thyrsites. 
By Prof. Freperick M‘Coy. 


THE common Barracoota of the Cape seas is very abundant in 
the Melbourne market from the adjacent coast, and has long 
been known; but an equally large and important species for 
food is brought in great quantities from Tasmania to the 
Melbourne fish-shops, usually split open and dried ; and, as far 
as I can see, it has been overlooked by naturalists. It is easily 
distinguished at a glance from the Thyrsites atun or Barracoota 
by the much greater depth of the body, fewer finlets, shorter 
dorsal, larger teeth, and double lateral line; but the mode of 
preparation usually obscures the still more striking character 
of the ventrals being almost absent, or at least very minute 
and rudimentary. I subjoin a description of the species. 


Thyrsites micropus (M‘Coy). 


D. 17 |4+12| VI. A.2+11.1V. V.1+1 (bifureate). 
P.14. C224. 


Height of body five times in total length to centre of caudal 
fin; head four times to end of lobes of caudal. Lower jaw 
projecting in advance of the upper; diameter of orbit one fifth 
the length of the head, and one half the length of the muzzle. 
Ventrals each with one spine and one bifurcate ray, slightly in 
advance of base of pectorals; about one third the diameter of 
the eye in length. Lateral line bifurcate: upper branch ex- 
tending from a little above the operculum, a little below the 
dorsal line, as far as the third finlet; lower branch coming off 
from upper one under base of fifth dorsal spine, and descending 
with an abrupt curve nearly to the middle of the side, con- 
tinuing nearly straight to opposite middle of anal fin, from 
which to middle of tail it describes three upward undulations. 


Rey. M.J. Berkeley & Mr.C.E. Broome on British Fungi. 339 


Colour brilliant lead-grey, whitish below; fins brownish. 
Surface of body smooth, with very minute scales imbedded in 
the skin. r 


ft.’ in: 
PotalTonpthye: ats Ce koe' Ys. 8 2 64 
Length of head from chin........ 0 8% 
Length. of pectoral, . 0. 5.02 ni... 0 38 
Greatest height of body.......... O 6% 
Greatest height of first dorsal fin .. 0 23 
Diameter of oP bit ose555 4 pss em pinse 0 13 


There are about sixteen compressed teeth of moderate size 
(about 2 lines) on each intermaxillary, and a group of three 
on each side of the upper jaw in front, very large (about 6 or 7 
lines) and curved backwards. As in Gempylus, the ventrals 
are so reduced as to be scarcely visible; but there is a row of 
seven or eight small conical teeth on each palate-bone, as in 
Thyrsites. T. prometheus, T. Solandri, and T. prometheotdes, 
all have the ventrals reduced to one small spine ; and the latter 
Amboyna species has also, according to Bleeker, the double 
lateral line; but the proportions of the head and body and 
number of the fin-rays completely distinguish the present 
fish from them. 

The popular name is Tasmanian kingfish. 


Melbourne National Museum, January 30, 1873. 


XXXVII.—Notices of British Fungi. By the Rev. M. J. 
BERKELEY, M.A., F.L.S., and C. E. Brooms, Ksq., 
F.L.S. 


{Continued from vol. vii. p. 486. ] 
[Plates VII., VILL, IX., & X.] 


1335. Agaricus (Armillaria) aurantius, Scheff.; Fr. Ic. 
tab. 27. 

Forres, Rev. J. Keith. Pine-woods. 

Varying a good deal in the nature and frequency of the 
scales. One or two of the specimens exactly accorded with 
the figure of Fries. 

1336. A. (Tricholoma) pessundatus, Fr. Ic. tab. 28. 

Street, J. A. Clark, Esq., Oct. 1871. 

Smell like that of new meal. 

* A. (Tricholoma) sordidus, Fr. Ic. tab. 45. 


On the naked soil in gardens, as at Coed Coch. 
22* 


340 Rev. M.J. Berkeley & Mr. C. E. Broome on British Fungt. 


Like Fries, we had formerly considered this a mere form of 
A. nudus. 

1337. A. (Tricholoma) resplendens, Fr. Ic. tab. 29. 

Amongst grass on the borders of woods. Coed Coch, 
Sept. 10, 1872. It has, however, occurred in other localities, 
as at Reading. 

*A. (Clitocybe) maximus, Fr. 

Abundant. Coed Coch, Sept. 11, 1872. 

_ Pileus 15 inches across, squamulose ; margin lobed and 
crisped; stem 2-3 inches high, 14-2 thick, very blunt, 
fibrilloso-striate or grooved. 

1338. A. (Clitocybe) ericetorum, Fr. 

Coed Coch, Sept. 10, 1872, Mrs. Lloyd Wynne. 

Exactly Bulliard, tab. 551. fig. 1. 

1339. A. (Collybia) succineus, Scheeff. 

Amongst grass. Coed Coch, &e. 

1340. A. (Collybia) aquosus, Bull. 

Coed Coch. 

1341. A. (Collybia) tylicolor, Fr. 

Coed Coch. 

1342. A. (Entoloma) Wynnet, B. & Br. Pileo primum 
plano, fuligineo, velutino, dein convexo, squamuloso, hy- 
grophano; margine striato, seepe undulato; stipite fuligineo- 
ceruleo, compresso, basi gossypino ; lamellis latis, transversim 
costatis, pallidis, margine crenulatis ; odore cimicino. 

In fir-woods. Coed Coch, Sept. 16, 1872. 

Allied to A. costatus, with which it agrees in size. 

1343. A. (Nolanea) mammosus, L. 

On lawns. Coed Coch, Sept. 10, 1872. 

1344. A. (Hebeloma) relicinus, Fr. 

Stannage Park, C. E. Broome, 1871. 

1345. A. (Hebeloma) Clarkii, B. & Br. Pileo campanulato, 
albo, sericeo ; stipite subsequali, flocculoso, farcto ; lamellis 
adnexis, albo marginatis. 

Street, J. A. Clark, Oct. 20, 1871. 

Allied to A. sindonius. Pileus 3 inch across, 1 inch high ; 
stem 14 inch high, 2 lines thick, slightly incrassated at the 
base. 

1346. A. (Hebeloma) truncatus, Fr. 

On the grassy base of a bank. Dangstein, Sept. 25, 1872. 

Pileus 1}-2 inches across, plane, rigid, slightly viscid, 
rufous, depressed in the centre, smooth ; margin crisped, in- 
flexed, the extreme edge pruinose; stem 24 inches high, # thick, 
claviform at the base, stuffed, fibrilloso-striate, pale rufous, 
less deeply coloured below; gills narrow, adnexed, with a 
tooth, Smell rhaphanoid. 


Rey. M.J. Berkeley & Mr.C. E. Broome on British Fungi. 341 


1347. A. (Naucoria) pusiolus, Fr. 

West of England, J. Renny. 

1348. A. (Naucoria) sobrius, Fr., var. Pileo convexo, 
ochraceo, subtiliter punctulato; margine furfuraceo ;  stipite 
sursum incrassato v. quali, furfuraceo, fistuloso; annulo ap- 
pendiculato ; lamellis pallidis, adnatis, planis. 

On lawns amongst short grass. Sibbertoft, July 7, 1871. 

Pileus 3-4 lines across; stem ?-1 inch high, 1 line thick. 
Margin of gills white. A. dispersus, P. 

1349. A. (Psalliota) crunctus, Fr., Saund. & Sm. tab. 29. 

Ely, W. Marshall, Esq. It has also occurred at Epping. 

1350. A. (Psalliota) merdarius, Fr. ; Saund. & Sm. tab. 25. 

In @ grass-field. Sibbertoft, Norths. 

* Cortinarius (Phlegmacium) triwmphans, Fr. 

Exhibited at South Kensington, Oct. 2, 1872. 

This is clearly the same as Mrs. Hussey’s C. sublanatus. 

1351. C. (Phlegmacium) porphyropus, Fy. 

Coed Coch, Oct. 1871. 

1352. C. (Dermocybe) cinnabarinus, Fr. 

Street, J. A. Clark, Oct. 1871. 

1353. C. (Telamonia) torvus, Fr. 

Coed Coch, Oct. 1872. 

1354. C. (Telamonia) armillatus, Fy. 

Near Reading, B. J. Austin. 

The species figured by Mrs. Hussey is clearly the plant of 
Bull. t. 527. fig. 1, and 1s therefore C. hematochelis. 'This has 
occurred at Coed Coch. 

1355. C. (Telamonia) helvolus, Fr. 

Coed Coch, Sept. 1872. 

1356. C. (Hygrocybe) decipiens, Fr. 

Leigh woods, Bristol, Oct. 25, 1871. Hoffm. Ic. An. t. 9. 
£.n12; 

* Hygrophorus chrysodon, Fr., var. pube candida. 

Street, J. A. Clark. 

* 7. pratensis, Fr., var. Pileo infundibuliformi, pallido ; 
margine undulato, deflexo ; stipite sursum dilatato, fibrilloso- 
striato; lamellis distantibus, decurrentibus, ramosis, pallidis. 

Coed Coch, Oct. 1872. We have also received it from M. 
Terry. 

1357. H. livido-albus, Fr. 

Street, J. A. Clark, Oct. 1871. 

1358. H. Clarkit, B. & Br. Fragilis ; pileo convexo, sub- 
umbonato, livido-cinereo, viscoso ; margine levi; stipite con- 
colori, cavo ; lamellis latis, distantibus, crassis, adnatis, albis. 

Street, Oct. 1872, J. A. Clark, no. 1788. 


Gills in large specimens nearly 4 inch wide. 


342 Rev. M.J. Berkeley & Mr.C. E. Broome on British Fungt. 


1359. H. metapodius, Fr. 

Street, J. A. Clark, Oct. 1871, J. Renny, Nov. 4, 1871. 

1360. H. Houghtoni, B. & Br. Pileo convexo, leeticolori, 
centro demum depresso, striato, cum stipite fulvo-flavo, trans- 
versim undulato, viscosissimo; lamellis decurrentibus, tenuibus, 

ilvis. 
i Amongst grass. Preston, Salop, Oct. 21, 1872. 

Pileus 14-2 inches across; stem 2 inches and more high, 
1 thick, sometimes tinged above with blue. Odour foxy. 
The gelatinous coat is extremely thick, and at length separates 
and forms a cup in the centre. 

* Lactarius glyciosmus, Fr. 

Herefordshire. 

This appears to be a rare species, at least in England. 

1361. Marasmius terginus, Fy. 

Batheaston, Nov. 28, 1870. Amongst leaves in a wood. 

Pileus 54; inch across, faintly striate, of a pale reddish brown, 
darker in the centre; stem about 3 inches high, } line thick, 
smooth, pale brown, satiny; gills reddish ochre, adnate by a 
tooth, but sinuated, moderately distant. 

1361*. Dedalea mollis, Sommt. 

C. B. Plowright, Sept. 1872. Exactly agreeing with spe- 
cimens from Blytt. 

1362. Boletus inunctus, Kromb. tab. 76. figs. 10, 11. 

Ascot, Lyndhurst, Coed Coch. 

1363. B. rubinus, Smith. 

Chippenham. 

Spores at first rosy, then warm brown, °00025—-0003 inch 
long, ‘0002 wide. 

* B. cyanescens, Bull.; Saund. & Sm. tab. 47. 

East Budleigh, C. H. Spencer Perceval. 

We were very glad to receive the true plant of Bulliard, as 
that figured by Mr. Cooke is a very different species, with very 
different spores. ‘The floccose coating which encloses the whole 
plant when young is very curious. The degree in which the 
flesh becomes blue is variable, and was very slight in Mr. 
Perceval’s specimens. 

1364. Polyporus frondosus, Fr. 

Berkshire, 1871. Exhibited at South Kensington, Oct. 
1871. 

1365. P. (Anodermei) mollis, Fr. 

Near Slough, M. Terry, Esq. 

1366. P. (Placodermei) carneus, Fr. 

Welshpool, on an old stump, Nov. 1871, Rev. J. E. Vize. 

This species occurs in various parts of the world, and has 
been found in British North America. 


Rev. M.J. Berkeley & Mr.C. E. Broome on British Fungi. 343 


* Hydnum fragile, Fr. 

Forres, Rev. J. Keith. 

1367. H. compactum, Fr. 

Forres, Rev. J. Keith. 

1368. H. aurantiacum, A. & 8. 

Forres, Rev. J. Keith. 

1369. H. ferrugineum, Fr. 

Reading, Mr. B. J. Austin. 

1370. H. cirrhatum, P. 

On a beech tree. Epping Forest, Mr. J. English. 

On comparing the specific characters of H. cérrhatum and 
H. corrugatum there could be no doubt about Mr. English’s 
plant being the former species ; but this is not so clear on com- 
paring the figures in Fries’s ‘cones.’ 

At first snow-white, but gradually acquiring a pale ochra- 
ceous tint ; imbricated, confluent behind ; aculei long ; pileus 
rough, with abortive prickles. 

*Corticium sulphareum, Fr. Var. ochroideum. 

Batheaston, C. E. Broome. 

1371. C. lacunosum, B. & Br. Molle, late effusum ; hypo- 
thallo lanoso, fulvo, lacunoso ; hymenio pulverulento. 

Aboyne, Sept. 1870. Spreading for several inches, and 
looking like a thin sponge from the numerous lacune. 

1372. Cyphella pallida, B. & Br. Cupulis primum orbicu- 
laribus, demum irregulariter lobatis, planis, tomentosis vel 
hispidulis, sessilibus; hymenio demum rugoso, pallide ochraceo. 
Rabenh. Fung. Eur. Exs. no. 1415. 

On old stems of Clematis vitalba, spreading here and there 
to neighbouring rotten sticks. 

Cups }—1 line across, sometimes proliferous. 

Ditters from C. Currey/ in the colour of the hymenium, 
which is rugose, like that of Cantharellus muscigenus, and its 
more irregular form. It appears also not to be erumpent as 
that species often is, but is seated on the bark or wood. Spores 
00025—-00035 inch long, elliptic. 

1373. C. dochmiospora, B. & Br. Minuta, pezizeeformis, 
nivea; sporis obliquis, ovatis, acutiusculis. 

Batheaston, Oct. 28, 1864. 

Resembles externally Peziza villosa; but the hairs are not 
granulated. Spores ‘0005-0006 inch long. 

1374. Dacrymyces macrosporus, B. & Br. Gelatinosus, 
tuberculatus, roseus ; floccis septatjs, apice sporiferis; sporis 
primariis oblongis, 3-d-septatis, articulis constrictis ; sporis 
secundariis ellipticis, utrinque apiculatis; conidiis concatenatis. 

On dead branches, forming irregular gyrate and tubercu- 
lated masses of a rosy colour, about 7 inch long, parasitic on 


344 Rev. M.J. Berkeley & Mr.C. E. Broome on British Fungi. 


old remains of Spheria stigma. The mass of gelatine consists 
of delicate, branched, septate threads, mixed with shorter threads 
bearing oblong 3—5-septate primary spores ‘0015-002 inch 
long, ‘00034-0004 wide ; these at length fall off and produce 
shortly stipitate secondary spores, one from each division. 
Secondary spores elliptic, 0005 long, more prominent on one 
side, pointed at either end. The cells of the primary spores 
are empty after the production of the secondary spores. Other 
threads break up into much branched chains of conidia, 0002 
in diameter ; the parts of the gelatinous mass where these are 
produced acquire a paler tint. 

Batheaston, Dec. to March. It preserves its rosy tint when 


dry. 


Puate VII. fig. 1. a. threads with primary spores and conidia; 
b. primary spores; c. ditto, producing secondary spores; d. secondary 
spores, more highly magnified. 


* Clavaria aurea, Scheff. 

This fine species occurred in 1871 in two or three places in 
the west of England, as at Stannage Park; and the Rev. H. 
Nicholls has lately sent from Hawkhurst a form closely ap- 
proaching C. rwfescens, which was found at the foot of a beech 
tree. 

*Geaster Michelianus, B. & Br., Herb. Crit. It. no. 3438. 

This fine species has occurred at Castle Ashby, in a bed of 
rhododendrons, in two or three successive years. 

The tough thick outer coat, large size, aud other points suf- 
ficiently distinguish it from G. twnicatus, to which it bears 
some resemblance. The laciniz of the outer peridium are 
sometimes as much elongated as in G. saccatus. It was con- 
sidered as G. tunicatus under no. 1306. 

1375. Lycoperdon echinatum, P. 

Berkshire, Messrs. Hoyle and Austin. 

Spores echinulate, °0002—-00025 inch in diameter. 

Scleroderma geaster, Fr. 

Hereford, Oct. 6, 1870. 

Spores *0003—-0005 inch in diameter. 

* Batarrea phalloides, P. 

Noble specimens of this rare fungus were lately found at the 
Earl of Egmont’s Nork, amongst the débris at the base of a 
hollow ash, by Mr. C. H. Spencer Perceval. The Dropmore 
specimens occurred in a similar situation. 

* Didymium squamulosum, A. & SB. 

On fern, J. Renny. 

Columella white. 

1376. Perichena quercina, Fr. Peridio externo crustaceo, 


Rev. M. J. Berkeley & Mr.C. E. Broome on British Fung?. 345 


dealbato ; interiore tenuissimo, luteo-brunneo, e sporis flavis, 
areolato-impresso ; floccis parcis ; sporis globosis, asperulis. 

On ash. Batheaston, March 1859; Shrewsbury, W. 
Phillips, Esq., Jan. 18, 1872. 

Spores ‘0005 inch in diameter. 

1377. P. picea, B.& Br. Peridio atro-fusco, hemispheerico, 
demum circumscisso ; sporis cofteatis, subglobosis floccisque 
fuscis leevibus. 

On dead wood, W. Phillips, Esq. 

Looks at first like a Pertsporium. 'The colour of the spores 
approaches that of those in the section MHyporhodiw of 
Agaricus. 

1378. Spheronema emulans, B. & Br. Peritheciis sub- 
globosis, e mycelio parco oritndis; collo apice ciliato; sporis 
minutissimis, motu Browniano preeditis. 

Epping Forest, Feb. 18, 1871. 

Perithecia *06 inch long; spores ‘0001-0003 in diameter. 

Possibly a pyenidiiférous state of some Melanospora. 


PuateE VII. fig. 2. a. plant, more or less magnified, with emitted 
spores. 


1379. Monosporium saccharinum, B. & Br. UHyphasmate 
gelatinoso, coffeicolori, e floccis brevibus erectis subclavatis ; 
sporis obovatis, basi truncata affixis, pallide coffeatis. 

Growing on decayed substances under glass. Batheaston, 
Feb. 1871. 

Spores ‘0004-0005 inch long. Sometimes the tips of the 
threads have an articulation, and possibly form a second spore. 


PuaTE VII. fig. 3. a. spores seated on their sporophores; 6. a single 
immature spore; c. free spores. 


1380. Helminthosporium exasperatum, B. & Br.  Floccis 
flexuosis, sursum nodosis, fructiferis ; sporis oblongis, utrinque 
obtusis, triseptatis. 

On sweet william. Sibbertoft. 

Flocci knotted above, each knot bearing an oblong spore, 
0012-0018 inch long, -0004—-0005 wide. 


PratTE VII. fig. 4. a. flocci; 5. spores; ¢. spore germinating. 
1381. Dactylium implecum, B. & Br. Floccis erectis, im- 
plexis; sporis subcylindricis, basi apiculatis, apicalibus. 


On the inside of a willow. Hereford. 
Spores *001—-0012 inch long. 


Puate VII. fig. 5. a. threads with spore; }. spores, more highly 
magnified. 


1382. D. melleum, B. & Br. Strato tenui, melleo ; floccis 


346, Rev. M.J. Berkeley& Mr.C.E. Broome on British Fungi. 


apice ramosis ; ramis ramulis acutis sporas uniseptatas feren- 
tibus terminatis. 

On some decayed Polyporus or Stereum. Batheaston, Feb. 
1871. 

Spores ‘0005 inch long. 

Approaching, like the last, Diplocladium minus, Bonorden. 

PuaTe VIII. fig. 6. a. creeping threads ; d. fertile threads with spores ; 
e. spores, more highly magnitied. 

1383. D. Rennyi, B.& Br. Floccis subtus parce ramosis, 
ramis apice ramulis clavatis coronatis; sporis ellipticis, uni- 
septatis. 


J. Renny. 
Very near Diplocladium minus, Bonorden ; but the spore- 


bearmg ramuli are obtuse above and slightly clavate, not 
attenuated. 

1384. Verticillium aspergillus, B. & Br. Floccis deorsum 
simplicibus vel rarius divisis, sursum attenuatis, apice repetitim 
furcatis. 

On decaying Polyporus vaporarius. Kelmarsh, Norths., 
Nov. 19, 1870. 

Threads ‘0055 inch high ; spores ‘0001 long. The threads 
are occasionally divided below, in which case each branchlet 
is forked at the tip. The habit is that of Chlonostachys arau- 
carta, Cda. It is worth inquiry whether this may not be a 
state of Hypocrea farinosa. 

Prate VIII. fig. 7. a. threads with spores; 0}. spores, more magnified. 


1385. Polyactis galanthina, B. & Br. Floccis sursum bre- 
viter ramosis, fuscis; ramulis sursum incrassatis; sporis 
obovatis, sessilibus, e spiculis elongatis oriundis. 

On bulbs of the common snowdrop, affecting the outer coats, 
and very destructive. G. F. Wilson, Esq. 

Spores ‘0006-0007 inch long. 

Puate VIII. fig. 8. a. threads with spores ; b. ditto, more highly mag- 
nified; c. separate spores. 

1386. Helicomyces roseus, Lk. Obs. 1. 19. 

1387. Oidium microspermum, B. & Br. Pulvinulis regu- 
laribus, ochraceo-citrinis, e floccis radiantibus furcatis ; sporis 
subglobosis, concatenatis. 

On bark of Scotch fir. Batheaston, Nov. 25, 1871. 

Spores ‘0002 inch in diameter. Differs altogether from 
O. aureum and O. fulvum in the shape and size of the spores. 
Pulvinuli at length confluent. 

1388. Synchytrium taraxact, de By. & Wor., Schroet. in 
Cohn’s Beitriige, p. 39. 

On leaves of the common dandelion. Batheaston. 


Rev. M.J. Berkeley & Mr.C. E. Broome on British Fungi. 347 


1389. S. mercurialis, Fuck. no. 1607 ; Schroet. 0. c. p. 40. 

On leaves of Mercurialis perennis. Batheaston, April 24, 
1871. , 

Spores echinulate, ‘0012—0015 inch in diameter. 

*S. anemones, Wor. ; Schroet. /. c. 

On leaves and petals of Anemone nemorosa. Not uncommon. 

1390. Peziza (Humaria) Chatert, Sm. Cupulis concavis, 
demum expansis, sessilibus, intus aurantio-rubris, extus pal- 
lide brunneis, granulatis, esetosis; paraphysibus  clavatis ; 
sporidiis ellipticis, echinulatis. Gard. Chron. Jan. 1872, p. 9, 
cum icone. 

Cambridge, Mr. Chater. 

Sporidia ‘0008 inch long, 0004 wide, echinulate when mature. 
Differs from P. melaloma in its rough sporidia and the absence 
of the dark hairs on the cups, which are granulated from the 
projecting coarse clavate brownish cells, and trom P. hirta in 
the latter particular. 

Prate VIII. fig. 9. Sporidia, magnified. 

1391. P. (Dasyscyphez) lasia, B. & Br. Cupulis globosis, 
erumpentibus, aurantiacis, demum ore laciniato-dentato apertis, 
extus lasiis; ascis elongatis; sporidiis fusiformibus ; para- 
physibus supra urneformibus, quandoque uniseptatis, imter- 
mixtis floccis brevibus. 

Onelm. Langridge, March 16, 1870. 

Cups smaller when on bark. Sporidia 0005 inch long by 
0001. 

PuatTE VIII. fig. 10. a. plant, magnified; 6. paraphyses; ec. asci; d. 
sporidia. 

1392. Rhyparobius dubius, Boud, Ann. d. Sc. Nat. 1869, 
x. p. 240. 

On rabbits’ dung. Bathford, C. E. Broome. 

1393. R. Cooket, Boud. 1. c. p. 238. 

On dogs’ dung. Batheaston, C. E. Broome. 

1394. 2. argenteus, B. & Br. Minutissimus, argenteus, pilis 
mollibus ciliatus; ascis brevibus ; cysto sporidiitero elliptico, 
apicem versus sito; sporidiis fusiformibus; paraphysibus fureatis. 

On rabbits’ dung, for the most part attached to filaments of 
Mucor. Mr. Renny, with figures. 

Cups °004 inch across ; asci ‘004 long ; sporidia normally 64 
in each cyst, ‘0007 inch long, 00025-0003 wide. Scarcely 
visible to the naked eye ; asci opening with a little lid, which 
splits vertically. Comes near to &. felinus, Boud., but has 
soft hairs and is of a pure white ; tips of paraphyses slightly 
enlarged. 

PraTeE IX. fig. 11. a young plant; 4. full-grown plant, magnified 
100 diameters; c. hairs; d. asci with cyst; e. paraphyses ; f. sporidia. 


& 


348 Rev. M.J. Berkeley & Mr.C. E. Broome on British Fungi. 


1395. R. woolhopensis, Renn. Minutus, primum candidus, 
dein albidus; cupulis basi substipitiformi incrassatis, tuber- 
culatis, sursum pilis mollibus vestitis; paraphysibus simpli- 
cibus; ascis clavatis ; cysto sporidiifero apicem versus sito ; 
sporidiis fusiformibus. 

On birds’ dung, mixed with filaments of Mucor and mostly 
borne by them. Mr. Renny, with figures. 

Cups 4 a line (041) wide and high; sporidia normally 64, 
‘0007 inch long. Minute, scattered, at first pure white, then 
dingy, with a thick stem-like base, which is studded with 
large semi-globular warts, covered above with close-set hairs, 
which form a fringe to the margin; at length expanded, the 
hairs disappearing with age; substance of base vesicular ; 
the cells often ‘0015-0018 inch in diameter, much smaller 
above. 

Puarte IX. fig. 12. a. plant, magnified 100 diameters; 5. cells of stem, 
compressed under the microscope ; ¢. edge of cup; d. asci with cyst and 
paraphysis; e. sporidia. 

* Hypocrea lenta, Fr. 

On dead wood. St. Catharine’s, Bath, Nov. 1866. 

1396. Spheria (Pertuse) pedida, B. & Br.  Peritheciis 
ovatis, rugosis, opacis, liberis, brunneo-nigris ; ostiolo conico, 
demum deciduo; ascis linearibus; sporidiis uniserialibus, 
medio contractis. 

On beech. Langridge, April 1859. 

Quite superficial, confluent ; sporidia ‘0005-—-0006 inch long, 
0002-0003 wide. 

Puate X., fig. 13. a. plant, more or less magnified; 5. ascus; ¢. spo- 
ridia. 

1397. Chetomium rufulum, B. & Br. Peritheciis subglo- 
bosis, eximie cellulosis, rufulis, e mycelio tenui oriundis; ascis 
brevibus, obtusis ; sporidiis octonis, globosis, granulatis, bi- 
serlatis. 

On a paper box under a bell-glass. Elmhurst, April 24, 
1ST. 

Sporidia when young *0004—0005 inch in diameter, when 
full-grown ‘0007. Perithecia globose, with a pointed apex, com- 
posed of about three rows of coarse cells, of a pallid ochre at 
first, attached to the paper by a few white threads about 032 
in diameter; ostiolum, if any, very inconspicuous ; asci mostly 
curved, obtuse at either end, the narrow base soon losing all 
signs of attachment and floating freely in the perithecium ; 
sporidia spherical when mature, strongly granulated, of a pale 
brown tint, and containing a small nucleus. 


PuateE X. fig. 14. a. plant on paper; 4. perithecium ; c. asci; d. spo- 
ridia. 


Dr. A. Giinther on two new Australian Frogs. 349 
*O, glabrum, B. 


Asci linear; sporidia globose, uniseriate, smooth, ‘0005 in 
diameter. 4 

On the same matrix Lycogala parietinum occurs; and we 
have little doubt that it is a mere state of the Chatomium. 
The asci are mixed up with yellow threads ; and it is probable 
that, as in other Chatomia, they are often absorbed, leaving 
the sporidia free, and thus appearing to be the spores of a 
Myxogaster. 

Puate X. fig. 15. a. plant, more or less magnified ; 5. ditto, ruptured ; 
c. threads ; d. asci; e. sporidia. 

1398. Sphinctrina coremioides, B. & Br. Gard. Chron. 1872, 
p- 40, cum icone. Peritheciis stipitatis, globosis, extus setu- 
losis ; ascis linearibus, cito evanidis ; sporidiis globosis, con- 
catenatis. 

On pear-roots. Painswick, Mr. J. Atkins. 

Sporidia 00025 in,diameter, forming chains at the tips of 
the elongated pedicels of the asci, which are soon absorbed. 

1399. Peronospora ficarie, Tul. Comptes Rendus, Jan. 1854. 

On Ranunculus ficaria. Rev. J. KE. Vize, Forden, May 1872. 

1400. P. lamii, De By. Ann. d. Se. Nat. 1863, xx. p. 120. 

On Lamium rubrum. Forden, Rev. J. E. Vize, May 1872. 

1401. P. hyoscyami, De By. 1. c. p. 1238. 

Market Deeping, in Mr. Holland’s herb-garden, on the 
common henbane. 


[To be continued. } 


XXXVIII.— Description of two new Species of Frogs from 
Australia. By Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER, 


I am indebted to Mr. Gerard Krefft for the opportunity of 
examining some frogs, of which the following appear to be 
new. 


NoraveN (g. n. Bufonid.). 


Body thick, short, covered with large flat glandular warts. 
Head very short and high, with a very obtuse snout; eye of 
moderate size ; mouth very short, reaching to below the middle 
of the eye. Limbs short. Teeth none; a pair of short and 
soft prominences between the narrow choane. Ear-opening 
covered by the skin, and visible only after the skin is removed; 
it is very narrow, as are the Eustachian tubes. Tongue 
without notch, broad. Not only the skin of the parotoid 


350 Dr. A. Giinther on two new Australian Frogs. 


region, but that of the entire back is thickened by numerous 
glands. Fingers free; toes with a narrow web and fringe. 
A large shovel-like metatarsal prominence ; no other tubercle. 
Clavicle present. Transverse process of sacral vertebra much 


dilated. 


Notaden Bennettii. 


Ground-colour greenish, with a very broad brownish band, 
marbled with black, along the middle of the back ; it bifurcates 
anteriorly on the head, leaving the forehead greenish, and emits 
a transverse bar on each side of the back behind the shoulder. 
Limbs blackish, with a few small white specks. Throat with 
scattered black spots; abdomen whitish. 


lines 

Length of the body ............ 21 
és fore Jimb« 5 ocnkce cs 12 

as Rind. Mim os se 22 


Mr. Krefft writes to me that this frog ‘comes from the 
Castlereagh River; but it has been also observed near Fort 
ag } ; 
Bourke.”? I have named this remarkable form after Dr. G. 
Bennett, to whom we are indebted for many specimens of the 
?, y Sp 
greatest interest. 


Chiroleptes platycephalus. 


Head large, broad, depressed, with its sides shelving ; eyes 
small, shorter than the snout ; canthus rostralis none ; nostrils 
directed upwards ; tympanum very indistinct, smaller than the 
orbit ; choanz and openings of the Eustachian tubes of equal 
and moderate width. Tongue rounded behind. Skin of the 
upper parts nearly smooth, with a few very small tubercles on 
the back. Inner finger distinctly opposite to the others, as 
long as the fourth, which is considerably shorter than the third. 
Second finger feeble and short. Toes depressed, broadly 
webbed ; the third very little longer than the fifth ; subarticular 
tubercles very little developed. Inner metatarsal tubercle 
shovel-like, with blunt edge ; no outer tubercle on the meta- 
tarsus. Uniform greenish olive above, whitish below, with 
some small greenish spots on the throat. 


lines. 

Lengihvor the body «.. 64) c.calisiae sete ee 25° 
Width between the angles of the mouth.... 12 
Length: of forelimb... «i.)) sane 3 ae 16 
es hind diunb.. :...<;o;¢3:- gaan 35 
ae CALAIS. «. «fnonsi shake to tae 5 

= hind WO0G 26... «4. nyscccue, ae eematen 104 


One specimen, from Fort Bourke. 


Mr. H. J. Carter on the Spongiade and the Foraminifera, 351 


XXXIX.—Deseription of a new Saurian (Hyalosaurus) 
allied to Pseudopus. By Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER. 


A FEW days ago, when looking with Professor Kélliker at 
some animals in Mr. Jamrach’s establishment, two living 
reptiles (a Zamenis hippocrepis and what appeared to be a 
young Pseudopus) were offered for sale by a man who stated 
that he had just obtained them from a ship coming from North 
Africa. 

On a closer inspection I found the lizard to be distinct from, 
though closely allied to, Pseudopus. ‘The absence of an ear- 
opening being generally considered a generic character, I 
propose for this new type the name of 


HYALOSAURUS. 


Differs from Pseudopus in having the region of the ear 
entirely covered with scales, without a trace of an external 
ear-opening. 


Hyalosaurus Kellikert. 


The shields on the head differ little from those of Pseu- 
dopus ; but the vertical shield forms a broad suture with the 
posterior frontal, which occupies the entire width of the fore- 
head, and a still broader one with the central occipital shield, 
which is of an unusually large size and subtriangular in shape. 
Dorsal scales in fourteen longitudinal series, of which the six 
middle ones are obtusely keeled, the keels being more promi- 
nent on the tail; ventral scales in ten series. Rudimentary | 
hind limbs undivided, movable, very distinct. Brownish, 
with a row of black specks along the middle of the back of 
the anterior part of the trunk; sides of a darker colour; 
abdomen greenish white. 

The length of the trunk of the single example is 5 inches ; 
a considerable portion of the tail is lost, the remaining piece 
being about as long as the body. 


XL.—Points of Distinction between the Spongiade and the 
Foraminifera. By H. J. Carter, F.R.S. &e. 


Havine preliminarily described and sketched most of the 
sponges in the British Museum, and having examined all 
microscopically, in the general as well as im the private 
collections of that institution, for the purpose (as desired by 
Dr. Gray) of finally placing them in some kind of order, and 


352 Mr. H. J. Carter on Points of Distinction 


having previously examined many others (both living and 
dead), together with many Foraminifera under the like con- 
ditions as well as in a fossilized state, I have, as a matter of 
course, come to certain conclusions in my own mind respecting 
the general points of distinction between these two classes of 
organisms after they have become fully developed. The germ or 
“beginning” being apparently alike in all, that which chiefly 
concerns us is what the special vitality in each can make out 
of the germ. 

Taking, then, the sarcode first, which can only be successfully 
studied in the living state, we find that the pseudopodial pro- 
longations from Spongillain the mass, are short, coarse, more 
or less conical, scantily branched, and seldom if ever reunited ; 
while in the Foraminifera they are extremely long, delicate, 
and more or less reunited into an oblique reticulation. 

Of the former I know of no figure that illustrates this better 
than that of Spongilla which was published in September 1849 
(‘Annals,’ vol. iv. pl. 4. fig. 2), and none better of the latter 
than that by Dujardin of Miliola vulgaris (‘ Hist. Nat. des 
Zoophytes Infusoires,’ pl. i. fig. 14, 1841). 

Tam not aware that in the sarcode itself of these pseudopodia 
there is any distinguishing peculiarity which is worth noticing 
here. 

When, however, we come to the composition of the mass, 
then there are many points of difference ; for while that of the 
Foraminifera as yet has shown nothing recognizable beyond 
granules, nuclei, ova, and probably contracting vesicles, that 
.of Spongilla, which is apparently much more complicated, 
possesses two kinds of surface-openings, called respectively 
‘nores ” and “oscula ’’—the former minute and multitudinous, 
and the lattercomparatively scanty and large—both respectively 
leading to more or less spherical groups of flagellated cells 
(spongozoa) in the interior. The pores go in more or less 
directly to the cavities where the groups of spongozoa are 
situated; and the oscula are the terminations of branched canals, 
whose ramifications lead from the same points. Currents of 
water &c. pass én through the pores and out through the 
oscula. 

The spongozoon possesses a cilium, nucleus, and one or two 
contracting vesicles, together with apparently nothing more 
than a little granular mucus ; they take in crude food brought 
to them through the pores, and eject the refuse through the 
ramifications connected with the branched systems of excretory 
canals that terminate respectively in the oscula. Ova are 
present in the sarcode of both Sponges and Foraminifera ; but 
the organs for their production have not yet been discovered. 


between the Spongiade and the Foraminifera. 303 


Although, however, the spongozoon is a flagellated infusorian 
possessing, so far as has yet been shown, no further organs than 
those mentioned, still, for all that we know, it may be as com- 
plicated as an elephant, whose trunk, liver, and bladder could 
alone be seen through the general transparency of the body. 

In these matters minuteness goes for nothing. Size, light, 
darkness, motion, tenuity, &c. are only relative in degree; 
and the degree to which we can appreciate them depends 
upon the power of our brains respectively, which is limited. 

That mind (taken in its general sense) alone can com- . 
prehend any thing beyond the power of the brain, which 
builds up the whole of the body and permits a portion of itself 
to be used by the brain it has developed, bearing a relation to 
the latter somewhat similar to that which steam bears to a 
steam-engine. 

Thus, in the philosophy of the Buddhists, the mind does not 
perish with the brain ; while Christianity promises a resurrec- 
tion of the flesh. 

But to return to our immediate subject, as this digression 
is merely to show that we should not deny or affirm that 
which is beyond the power of our drains to comprehend. 

We come, now, to the skeleton of the Spongiade and the 
Foraminifera respectively ; and here the differences are most 
manifest, inasmuch as the skeleton of the former is énside,- 
while that of the latter is outside. 

The sarcode of the sponges hangs upon their skeleton as the 
flesh of a human being hangs about his bones; while the 
sarcode of the Foraminifera lives inside its skeleton after the 
manner of a snail, only making its exit through holes all over 
its shell or test, in which generally, if not always, there is one 
principal opening, leading directly outwards from a single- or 
many-chambered interior, in accordance with the simple or 
complicated form of the species. Of course by the term “ ske- 
leton”’ I mean the organ of support. 

The materials, too, of which the skeleton is composed are 
arranged differently. Thus, in the sponges the proper spicules 
(that 1s, the spicules formed by the sponge itself) have, in all 
instances with which I am acquainted, their points directed 
outwards, one object of which is no doubt for the better holding 
on of them by the sarcode, and another defence, as spines 
upon a hedgehog’s back ; while in the test of the Foraminifera, 
where spicules are present on the surface, both heads and points 
are directed outwards indiscriminately. 

This is particularly well shown in Squamulina scopula and 
its branched variety (‘Annals,’ vol. v. p. 309, pls. iv. & v., 
May 1870, and vol. vi. p. 346, Oct. 1870), together with the 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 23 


354 Mr. H. J. Carter on Points of Distinction 


concamerated form of the interior, rising evidently from the 
central or primary cell of a pseudoconcamerated discoidal base, 
closely resembling a discoidal foraminifer. The terminal 
opening is also shown, as well as the sarcodal contents of the 
concamerated cavity, consisting of granular sarcode charged 
with ova; and the peculiar form taken by the pseudopodia is 
described in the branched variety (op. et loc. cit.) ; so that, 
indeed, Squamulina scopula prominently puts forth all the 
points which distinguish a foraminifer from a sponge. 

My astonishment, therefore, may be easily conceived when 
I saw the following footnote in Hiickel’s ‘ Monographie der 
Kalkschwimme,’ vol. i. p. 456, translated in the ‘Annals,’ 
by W.S. Dallas, F.L.S., as “ communicated by the author ”’ 
(vol. xi. p. 244, April 1875... Hiickel there states :— 

“Whether the simplest sponge-forms, corresponding with 
the picture of Archispongia, still exist is not known. Possibly 
a very near ally is the singular sponge which Bowerbank has 
described as Haliphysema Tumanowiczit (Brit. Spong. vol. i. 
p- 76, fig. 359), and which Carter regards as a Polythalamian 
(Squamulina). I suspect, on the contrary, that it is a very 
simple Myxospongia, which, like Dysidea, forms for itself a 
skeleton of foreign bodies (spicules of other sponges, spines of 
Echinoderms, &c.), but in other respects has the simple 
structure of Olynthus.” 

But I am still more astonished at Hiickel’s likening Squa- 
mulina scopula to Dysidea, since in Dysidea, as well as in all 
the sponges which draw in foreign objects to strengthen their 
skeletons, these foreign bodies form the ais, not the walls, of 
horny fibre, or are cemented together by amorphous sarcode 
into a fibrous structure, according to the nature of the species, 
about which the soft portions of the sponge hang, as before 
stated, like flesh on the bones of a human being—that is, out- 
side the fibre. This is the case in Dysidea. On the other 
hand, Squamulina scopula builds up a similar structure, but 
lives ¢nstde it—that is, inside the fibre as it were. 

Perhaps Polytrema rubra, Dujardin (see Carpenter’s ‘ Intro- 
‘duction to the Study of the Foraminifera,’ p. 235, Ray Soc. 
Pub. 1862), most nearly approaches in structure to the sponges 
which strengthen their skeletons with foreign material. Here 
we have a cancellous structure whose cavities communicate 
with each other, but finally terminate on the surface in little 
circular arez, each of which is pierced, like a pepper-box, with 
a number of distinct holes, while the intervals are filled up by 
the exterior termination of the clathrate skeleton, which, albeit 
for the most part it consists of a thin curvilinear lamina of cal- 
careous matter, frequently presents in its structure foreign 
objects, such as the spicules of sponges, &c. 


between the Spongiade and the Foraminifera. 355 


But even here the sarcode lives in the cavities, which may 
be easily seen to be but an extreme degree of what is already 
foreshadowed ih the chambers of less complicated forms of 
Foraminifera, while its communication with the exterior is 
through the minute holes mentioned. 

Thus, while the minute holes on the surface of the Forami- 
nifera are fixed in form and size in a solid hard crust for the 
egress of the pseudopodia, the minute holes on the surface of 
the sponge (that is, the “pores ”’) are situated in an unfixed, 
ever-changing, soft sarcode for the zngress of water bearing 
the particles of food on which the species may subsist. In 
short, one goes out to search for food with its bare pseudopodia, 
after the manner of an Acténia, while the other draws it into 
the interior of its habitation by the aid of currents of water 
produced by cilia, after the manner of an Ascidian. It is to 
the latter, | think, that we shall by-and-by find the sponges 
passing through Schmidt’s Gumminee. 

The structure (not the form) of Polytrema appears to have been 
like that of Parkeria and Loftusia, Carpenter and Brady (Phil. 
Trans. vol. clix. part il. 1869, pls. 72-80) ; but [have nothing 
to do with the foss¢l Foraminifera here. 

It might be stated that the boring-sponges have a segmented 
form, like the Foraminifera, and that they often, in oyster- 
shells, leave a concamerated chain of cavities. This is true; 
but still they also have their spicular skeletons, and the pa- 
rietes of their chambers consist of those parts of the oyster-shell 
which immediately surround the chambers. Thus the sponge 
does not form for itself a concamerated test. The polythala- 
mous cavity is merely a “ burrow.” 

Hence when Hiickel states, regarding Squamulina scopula, 
that he suspects it to be a very simple Myxospongia, which, 
like Dysidea, forms for itself a skeleton of foreign bodies, but 
in other respects has the simple structure of his Olynthus, 
while his Olynthus primordialis (Monographie, Atlas, Taf. 1. 
fig. 1) is at the foot of his whole system, [ am naturally in- 
clined to say, “Ha uno disce omnes”? ? 

Among the mounted specimens which Dr. Oscar Schmidt 
generously sent to the British Museum are two bearing respec- 
tively Squamulina scopula and the branched variety of this 
species, under which is written in his own hand “ keine Spon- 
gien,” as well here as in his estimable work on the Sponge- 
fauna of the Atlantic Ocean, p. 72,1870. But Schmidt speaks 
with the modesty of a bond fide naturalist, Hiickel with the 
infallibility of a Pope*. 

* Jn the arrangement which I have proposed for the sponges in the 
British Museum, and which will of course apply to all others, I find that 

93% 


356 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Dentition of Rhinoceroses. 


XLI.—On the Dentition of Rhinoceroses (Rhinocerotes), and 
on the Characters afforded by their Skulls. By Dr. J. E. 
Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


[Plate XI.] 


In the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society ’ for 1867, and 
in the ‘ Catalogue of Carnivorous and Pachydermatous Mam- 
malia in the British Museum,’ p. 295, I gave an account of the 
skulls of the Rhinoceroses in the British Museum, and described 
their dentition in the young and in the adult animals. Since 
that period the British Museum has received several additional 
specimens, which have enabled me to observe further details 
of the changes that take place in the skulls and teeth during 
their growth ; and I have been induced to condense in this 
aper the results of their examination. 

The Asiatic Rhinoceroses have the front of the nasal bone 
convex, produced, and more or less acute in front. 

The intermaxillaries in the skull of the very young animal 
are spongy and united together in front, with two rudimentary 
teeth on the hinder part of each side. In the older animals 
these teeth are more elongate, produced, and separate from each 
other in front, and supported by a more or less long process 
of the intermaxillary bone, which encases the upper and outer 
side of their hinder part. The young animals have two teeth 
on each side, the hinder being the smallest ; but in the older 
animals both these teeth drop out, and the front one is re- 
placed by a large tooth, which eventually has a large flattened 
crown. 

In the Asiatic one-horned Rhinoceroses (Acnoceros) there 
is a small cylindrical cutting-tooth on the inner side of the 


they can be divided into five principal groups, in which all sponges, inclu- 
ding the Hexactinellide and Calcispongix, may be included, thus :— 

1st. Sponges with horny fibre and granular axis without foreign objects. 
Aplysinide. 

2nd. Sponges with horny fibre, amorphous sarcode, and axis of foreign 
objects. Herciniade. 

3rd. Sponges with horny fibre and axis of proper spicules only, ¢. e. 
spicules formed by the species. Chalinide. 

4th. Sponges with horny fibre and axis of proper spicules, more or less 
echinated also with proper spicules. -Armate. 

5th. Sponges in which the fibre is formed of proper spicules cemented 
together by amorphous sarcode. Renierine. 

It should always be remembered that the materials of the axis cannot 
get into the fibre after the latter is formed, and therefore that the sponge 
must arrange all this beforehand. 

In a short time I hope to go further into this subject, as I have com- 
pleted the Ist and 2nd divisions so far as subgrouping goes. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Dentition of Rhinoceroses. 357 


. two large lateral ones. These teeth are close to the inner side 
of the lateral ones in the skull of the foetal animal; but they 
become separated from them as the front of the jaw dilates for 
the secretion of the permanent cutting-teeth, and when the 
larger lateral cutting-teeth are developed they are more com- 
pressed together. ‘They are generally present ; but there is a 
skull of Rhinoceros jyavanicus in the Museum (723a) in which 
they are deficient, the inner sides of the large lateral cutting- 
teeth being very close together. 

In the lower jaw of the skulls of very young animals there 
is a large conical cutting-tooth on each side in front. This 
tooth is very depressed, and has sharp edges on the sides, and 
a half-ovate end. It becomes worn down, and is replaced by 
a larger tooth, which becomes worn down on the upper sur- 
face so as to produce an elongated flat disk with an acute 
front. 

In the skulls of the adult two-horned Asiatic Rhinoceroses 
(Ceratorhinus), these two middle cutting-teeth are wanting. 
I have never seen a very young skull of these animals. 


Ceratorhinus sumatranus. 


The figure of the skull, like the figure of the animal, attached 
to Mr. Bell’s paper in the ‘Philosophical Transactions’ (vol. 
Ixxxili. 1793, p. 3, t. li—iv.) well represents this species, and 
has well-developed cutting-teeth in the lower jaw, and the 
space between the condyles of the skull narrow, which is the 
character of this species. 

Home’s figure of the skeleton of the Sumatran Rhinoceros 
(Phil. Trans. 1821, t. xxu.), from the skeleton now in the 
Royal College of Surgeons, better represents the height of the 
skull, but scarcely sufficiently shows the distinction between 
the two species. 

The figure of R. sumatrensis 2, Blainv. Ostéog. t. i1., 1s 
not so high behind as the skulls of either of the species, and 
in other respects is not characteristic. 


Ceratorhinus niger. Plate XI. (skull). 


The British Museum purchased from the Zoological Society 
the body of the Rhinoceros which was obtained by Mr. William 
Jamrach at Singapore, and which was captured at Malacca in 
1871. It is peculiar for having a very rough skin, the body 
being covered with thick black hair ; the tail is comparatively 
long and thin; and the ears are closer together than in C. 
sumatranus. 

Mr. Edward Gerrard, Jun., has preserved and stuffed the 
skin, and prepared a very complete skeleton of the animal. 


3858 Dr. J. EH. Gray on the Dentition of Rhinoceroses. 


The skull is very different from those of the Sumatran Rhi- 
noceros (/2. swmatranus, Raffles), collected by Sir Stamford 
Raffles and now in the British Museum and in that of the 
Royal College of Surgeons, and from the skull which we pur- 
chased of Mr. Theobald, and proves most distinctly that I 
was right in stating the animal, when alive, to be very 
distinct from the Sumatran Rhinoceros described and figured 
by Bell in the ‘ Philosophical Transactions’ for 1793, to which 
Sir Stamford Rafiles gave the name of &. swmatranus, under 
which name the Malaccan Rhinoceros was exhibited at the 
Zoological Gardens and mentioned in the list of accessions in 
the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society ;’ and I see by the 
report that a paper on the details of its visceral anatomy has 
been read to the Society by Mr. Garrod. 

There has for many years existed in the British Museum a 
stuffed skin of a young specimen of this species, which was 
purchased of Mr. Franks of Amsterdam as the young Sumatran 
Rhinoceros ; but there is reason to believe that this specimen 
was from Singapore, the port of Malacca. 

The skull of the Malaccan Rhinoceros is very like that of 
the Sumatran one; but it is shorter and broader than that of 
ft. sumatranus. The hole in the cheek for the passage of the 
large vessels is oblong, much larger, and nearer the margin 
of the nasal aperture ; while in the two skulls of 2. swmatranus 
it is smaller, circular, and some distance from the margin of 
the aperture. The front edge of the intermaxillary bones is 
broader, rounded, and not compressed or nearly so much pro- 
duced as the front edge of the intermaxillary bone of the adult 
skull of R. swmatranus, nor so much as in the skull of the 
young animal of the same species, which is shorter and broader 
than in the adult. The grinders of the upper jaw are six in 
number, and appear broader than those of the adult 2. swma- 
tranus, but they occupy the same length. 

The skull of the Malaccan Rhinoceros is not so high behind 
as that of the adult Sumatran Rhinoceros ; andthe space in the 
crown between the temporal muscles is flat, and much wider 
than that of the adult but not so aged Sumatran Rhinoceros 
in the British Museum. The back end of the upper part of 
the occiput is not nearly so broad as that of the Sumatran 
Rhinoceros. 

The most striking difference is in the lower jaw. The con- 
dyles are further apart; indeed the whole jaw is wider; but 
the outer edge of the hinder angle is much more expanded. 
This latter peculiarity, as well as the form of the crown of the 
grinders in the upper jaw, may arise from the greater age of 
the specimen. The greatest peculiarity is that the front of the 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Dentition of Rhinoceroses. 359 


lower jaw is comparatively thin, expanded, and has neither 
teeth nor alveoli, nor, indeed, one may say, sufficient thickness 
to hold the large cutting-teeth usually found in the front of the 
lower jaw of this genus. The grinders are six on each side; 
that is to say, the front tooth on each side is retained, whereas 
it is shed from the skull of the adult but much less aged ani- 
mal of C. sumatranus in the British Museum ; and the grinders 
appear to differ in the form of their folds from those of the 
Sumatran species. 

C. niger. C. sumatranus. 


Length from tip of nose to occipital condyle in. in. 

i ROPE: + 4p Sig shad eed eee fy Paes aia ta ap hig 213 22 
From ‘front of intermaxillary to occipital 

ROTVLE wh icna ct Sa <yof Sha heel une Ca 207 21 
From front edge to back edge of lower jaw. 164 17 
Width at zygomatic.arch 2... sic 6..000% 0 12 11 
Width of hinder end of lower jaw ........ 103 93 
Width of upper part of lower jaw at end 

SUE Un SOUR i ae i al ae he ° 62 
Pewhibier back ot skull"). 0. 2 52% 13 134 


It is very probable that the want of front teeth in the 
lower jaw may be an individual peculiarity produced by the 
age of the specimen ; at least I do not think it safe to regard 
that peculiarity as specific without an examination of more 
specimens. 


Ceratorhinus Crossit. 


In the ‘ Annals and Magazine of Natural History,’ 1872, 
x. p. 209, I referred to this species and thought it might be 
the same as /. swmatranus from Tavoy and Tenasserim, 
mentioned by Blyth, Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1862, p. 156, 
who figures the skull and horns, and who identifies his animal 
with my &. Crossiz (which was described from a pair of horns, 
P. Z. 5. 1854), and has just informed me that he is certain 
that it is the head of the small black rhinoceros with two 
horns. 

It is most likely that he is correct in thinking that the horn 
I figured as 2. Crossivis of the same species as the skulls which 
he received from Tenasserim; but it is to be observed that I 
have never seen a skull of the Tenasserim Rhinoceros, and do 
not know whether it is the same as C. suwmatranus from Su- 
matra or C. niger from Malacca, or whether it may be a 
distinct species. Therefore I think it best, until we receive 
skulls of the Tenasserim species, to give the Malaccan one a 
distinct name and call it C. niger (as the black colour at once 
distinguishes it from the greyish Sumatran species), more es- 


360 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Dentition of Rhinoceroses. 


pecially as some zoologists who admit the difference of the 
two species refer R. Crossiz, of which we know nothing but 
the horn, to each of the species. 


Ceratorhinus Blythit. 


Mr. Blyth, in the ‘ Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ 
vol. xxxi. t. ii. f. 1, 2, 3, lithographs from photographs (which 
he has since given to me) three skulls of what he calls . swma- 
tranus from 'Tenasserim. 

These skulls, according to the photographs, differ so much 
from each other that they do not afford materials for the de- 
termination of the question of the species to which the Tenas- 
serim Rhinoceros should be referred. 

The photographs represent the skulls of animals of very 
different ages; but I cannot believe the difference between 
them depends solely on age, as the skull of the oldest (fig. 1) 
and of the youngest (fig. 3) agree in the shape of the occiput 
and in the upper surface not being produced behind, while the 
skull of the half-grown one (fig. 2) has the upper surface of 
the occiput very much produced backwards, and the occipital 
condyles not so prominent. 

The three photographs are nearly of the same breadth at the 
lateral condyles; but the length of the upper surface of the 
skull differs considerably as compared with its breadth. Thus 
in the photograph of the aged specimen (t. i. f. 1) the length 
of the skull is once and three-fourths its breadth; in the 
youngest skull (t. 1. f. 3) it is very nearly of the same 
proportion ; but in the nearly adult skull the photograph 
represents the upper surface as a little more than twice as long 
as the breadth at the condyles. 

The most striking difference is in the height of the occipital 
end and the form of the lower jaw in the photographs of the 
adult and nearly adult skulls (f. 1 & 2). 

In the adult skull the occipital end is high (that is, as high 
as two thirds the length of the skull from the occipital condyle 
to the end of the nose), and the hinder end of the lower jaw is 
nearly erect, with a broad rounded lower part, which is promi- 
nent, with diverging ridges on its outer margin. In the nearly 
adult specimen the hinder end is not nearly so high compared 
with the length, and the hinder end of the lower jaw shelves 
off towards its lower edge and has not the expanded rounded 
form of the lower jaw of the other specimen; but it is curious 
that the skull of the youngest one has the form of the occiput 
of the very aged one and the form of the lower jaw of the 
middle-aged one. All this shows the difficulty of distinguishing 
the species of these animals and the necessity of waiting until 


Dr. J. E. Gray on the Dentition of Rhinoceroses. 361 


we get together more specimens and their skulls from different 
parts of Asia. It may turn out that more than one species of 
two-horned Rhinoceros inhabit Tenasserim. There is a one- 
horned one, 2. javanicus, also found there. The photograph 
of the oldest skull (t. i. f. 1) and the youngest (t. ii. f. 3) 
agree in many particulars with our skulls of C. swmatranus 
from Sumatra—that is to say, in the width of the skull at the 
lateral condyles and in the narrowness of the space that sepa- 
rates the temporal muscles of the adult; but the surface of the 
lower jaw of the adult specimen most resembles that of C. néger. 
The latter fact may depend solely upon the age of the specimen. 

Mr. Blyth informs me that he believes the adult skull (t. iii. 
f. 1) is the skull of &. Crossi’, which he thinks is 2. lasiotis, 
and he believes that the two younger skulls (t. ii. f. 2 & 3) 
belong to the black Rhinoceros. The youngest skull (t. iii. 
f. 3) has the skin of the head and horns attached to it in the 
Museum at Calcutta., But the lower jaw in the two younger 
specimens does not agree in form with the lower jaw of 
C. niger ; and therefore I should provisionally name them C. 
hlythii. 


The African Rhinoceroses have the intermaxillary bones 
small, laminar, situated on the front end of a bony plate sepa- 
rated by a suture (which becomes obliterated in the older spe- 
cimens) in the inner side of the front part of the maxille ; and 
it has a tooth on the edge, which generally falls out in the adult 
animal; hence they are usually described as having no inter- 
maxillary cutting-teeth. The lower jawof the young &. bicornis 
(1365 d) has a smallcylindrical cutting-tooth on each side of the 
broad end of the jaw, which disappears in the older animals ; 
and the breadth of the front of the jaw does not increase, and 
therefore becomes smaller compared with the size of the skull. 
In the skull of the foetal specimen of 2. bicornis, 83 in. long 
(1365 h), with the three grinders but partially developed, the 
intermaxillaries are cartilaginous, and show rudiments or, 
rather, nuclei of two teeth. 

The lamina on the inside of the maxille of these African 
Rhinoceroses, bearing the intermaxillaries, is represented in the 
Asiatic Rhinoceroses by a broad portion of the inside of the 
maxille, which is marked by an external groove; but in these 
animals the broad intermaxilla is attached to the end of the 
maxilla, as well as to the end of this defined part. 


EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI. 
The skull of the two-horned Rhinoceros (Ceratorhinus niger) from 
Malacca; and a view of its occipital extremity, showing the form 
and breadth of the hinder part of the head. 


362 M. E. Favre on some Works relating to 


XLII.—On some Works relating to a new Classification of 
Ammonites. By Ernest Favre*. 


THE abundance with which Ammonites are distributed in the 
deposits of the secondary epoch, the variety and beauty of these 
fossils, and their importance in the classification of strata have 
long attracted the attention of naturalists. When the known 
species of this group increased in number, and a greater diver- 
sity of forms was discovered, the necessity of introducing some 
subdivisions among them came to be felt. Nevertheless, as 
no representative of this genus has yet been found living, and 
the organization of the animal was and still is in great part 
unknown, the various classifications proposed were only based 
on the most apparent characters of the shell—that is to say, on 
its general form, the nature of its ornaments, and that of the 
septa. . Thus it was that the Ammonites were divided into 
various families, the Heterophylli, Globost, Ornati, Cristati, 
&e. 

The great works of M. Barrande on the Cephalopoda of the 
Silurian strata, the development of paleontological collections, 
and a very complete study of the anatomy of the Nautilus (the 
only tetrabranch now living) have thrown, within the last 
few years, a new light on the organization of the Ammonites. 
Important characters have been recognized, and have served 
as a basis for a classification into various groups which have 
been called genera. In this way a number of new names, such 
as Arcestes, Phylloceras, Perisphinctes, &c., of which the use 
has not yet spread beyond a certain number of paleontologists, 
have been introduced into certain works published in Germany. 
The new classificationt, however, is not complete; and it re- 
lates especially to the Ammonites of the Jurassic formation, of 
which the museums of Munich and Vienna possess admirable 
collections. Moreover the naturalists who have created and 
adopted it still retain the old designation for the Ammonites 
from this formation which are not yet classed, as well as for 
the greater part of the Cretaceous Ammonites, until new mate- 
rials enable the work to be completed. 

Professor Suess has the merit of first drawing attention to 
the characters which may serve to establish a new classifica- 
tion of Ammonites, and directed in a quite different course from 
his predecessors’ the researches on this group. M. Laube, M. 


* Translated by W. 8. Dallas, F.L.S., from the Bibliothéque Univer- 
selle, Archives des Sciences, January 15th, 1873, pp. 1-23. 

+ Ishall not speak here of an attempt at classification which has been 
made in America by Prof. Agassiz and Mr. Hyatt, and which rests upon 
very different principles from those of the German classification. 


a new Classification of Ammonites. 363 


Zittel, and M. Waagen afterwards, especially occupied them- 
selves with this question*. The classification proposed by M. 
Suess rests in Great part on the size of the last chamber and 
on the nature of the appendages to the mouth of the shell, 
which he believes to be m relation with the essential characters 
of the animal. That of M. Waagen, whilst taking into ac- 
count these characters, is based on the nature of the Aptychus, 
which plays, as I shall show, an essential part in the organi- 
zation of the Ammonite. 

The last chamber, the size of which is constant in each group 
of Ammonites, differs much from one group to another. In 
some of them it occupies as much as one turn and a half, in 
others hardly half a turn. This difference is often connected, 
according to M. Suess, with differences in the form of the 
margin of the aperture, and in important anatomical characters. 
According to this learned paleontologist, in the Ammonites 
furnished with a large chamber the adductor muscles were 
probably placed on the sides near the margin of the shell, 
which generally presents the form of a crescent. In the much 
more numerous Ammonites which have a shorter chamber the 
latter encloses only a part of the animal; the margin of the 
aperture is then furnished with appendages of various forms, 
sometimes simple and discoidal (myothéque), sometimes more 
elongated and presenting a myotheca united to the shell by 
a longer or a shorter peduncle (myolabe). As these names in- 
dicate, these appendages served, in the opinion of M. Suess, 
as points of attachment for the muscles. 

M. Waagen has opposed this opinion. The muscles have, 
according to him, a part too important in the organization of 
* the Ammonite, and the life of the animal depends too much 
upon their preservation, for them to be thus placed on the edge 


* The following are the titles of the various works in which this sub- 
ject is treated :— , 

1865 and 1870. Ed. Suess, ‘‘Ueber Ammoniten,” Sitzungsber. k, Akad. 
Wiss. Wien, lii., lxi. 

1868. Zittel, Paliontologische Mittheilungen. Die Cephalopoden der 
Stramberger Schichten. 

1869. Laube, “Ueber Ammonites Aon und seine Verwandten,” Sitz- 
ungsber. k. Akad. Wiss. Wien, lix. 15. 

1869. Waagen, “ Die Formenreihe des Ammonites subradiatus,” in Be- 
neke’s Geogn.-pal. Beitr. 1869, 11. 183, 

1870. Zittel, Paliiontologische Mittheilungen. Die Fauna der altern 
Cephalopoden-fiihrenden Tithonbildungen. 

1870. Waagen, “ Ueber die Ansatzstellen der Haftmuskeln beim Nau- 
tilus und den Ammonitiden,” Paleeontographica, herausg. v. Dunker und 
Zittel, xvii. 185. 

1871. Waagen, “ Abstract of results of examination of the Ammonite- 
fauna of Kutch, &c.,” Records of the Geol. Surv. of India, 1871. 


364 M. E. Favre on some Works relating to 


of the shell, and often beyond this edge on a pedunculated 
organ, exposed to all sorts of external dangers. ‘The anatomy 
of the Nautilus, in conjunction with observations made directly 
on well-preserved Ammonites, lead him to a very different 
result from that obtained by M. Suess. This I shall explain 
hereafter. 

It has long been a question how the animal of the Ammo- 
nite advanced in its shell, and how it formed its septa. The 
mode of progression was evidently the same as in the Nautilus. 
The researches of M. Keferstein, and those of M. Waagen, on 
the anatomy of the latter animal seem to have settled the 
question. The animal grows periodically; at certain moments, 
which are for it a time of repose, it remains fixed: the poste- 
rior part of its body, which is free, secretes calcareous matter 
and forms the septum ; at other times this part secretes air, 
and the animal advances slowly. All its periphery is bound 
to the shell by a thin layer of conchioline*, of which the outer 
margin has the form of a ring (annulus), marked in the inte- 
rior of the shell by a band from 1 to 2 millimetres in breadth. 
The adductor muscles are attached by a thicker coat of the 
same substance; the marks which they leave on the shell in 
the last chamber have a perfectly definite form. The whole 
animal, the posterior part excepted, is therefore united to the 
shell, and the chamber is hermetically closed. 

This explains how the air can accumulate, how the animal 
can resist variations in the pressure of the air according as it 
is at a greater or less depth, and also how the soft parts thus 
sustained could, in the Ammonites, secrete the delicate lobes 
of the septa always in the same position and on the same spiral 
line. The mantle extends in front of this attaching ring (/aft- 
ring) ; it is composed of two parts—one, which is very short, 
corresponding to the antisiphonal region of the animal; the 
other, which is much longer, corresponds to the siphonal re- 
gion, and secretes the shell with which it is connected by its 
outer margin. Contrary to the opinion of M. Suess, the form 
of the margins of the aperture has no direct relation with the 
position of the adductor muscles; it depends entirely on the 
form of the mantle. 

Aptychus.—The most various opinions have been put for- 
ward as to the nature and functions of the Aptychust. L. von 


* A substance resembling epidermose and containing about C 50, H 6, 
and N 16°5 per cent. 

+ M. Coquand published, in 1841, ‘ Considérations sur les Aptychus,’ in 
which he sums up all the opinions brought forward up to that date as to 
the nature of these singular organisms. He endeavours to demonstrate 
that these shells belonged to an extinct family of naked Cephalpooda. 


a new Classification of Ammonites. 365 


Buch was the first to suppose that they belonged to the Am- 
monites, and that each species has a determinate form of 
aptychus. Oppel (Paliiont. Mittheil.) demonstrated this fact, 
and ascertained that they have always a perfectly definite 
position in the neighbourhood of the siphonal side of the 
last chamber when the fossil is in a normal state of pre- 
servation *, 

Three kinds of Aptychus have been distinguished :—Apty- 
chus properly so called; Anaptychus, which is characteristic 
of the groups of the Arietes and Amalthei; and Sidetes, of 
which the Ammonite is not yet known, and which belongs to 
the Cretaceous formation. 

The*form of the Aptychus is generally known. The shell 
consists of three layers of different textures, of which the two 
external ones are often detached. The inner layer is thin, 
homogeneous, and often impregnated with organic substance ; 
it is marked with fine lines of growth, and sometimes also 
with radiating lines. The middle layer, which is the thickest, 
is distinguished by its structure of juxtaposed canals. 

The outer layer disappears easily ; it has not always been 
observed. In the thick Aptychi of the Perarmati (A. cellu- 
lost) it is very thin and pierced with very small holes; in the 
Aptychi of the Flexuost and Kalcifert (A. imbricati) it forms 
a thin homogeneous layer, destitute of pores, which often be- 
comes detached; in the Aptychi of the Planulati it is covered 
with small points. It is particularly developed in the Aptychi 
of the Alpine strata; im many of them (A. punctati, Zitt.) the 
surface of the thick middle layer is, as in the Jmbricati, gar- 
nished with imbricated folds. But while in these last the 
outer layer is very thin, it is thickened in the others so as to 
fill up the intervals of the projecting folds, so that well-pre- 
served specimens seem nearly smooth ; their surface is covered 
with round pores, which are sometimes pretty large, arranged 
in a radiating order, each row corresponding to a furrow of the 
middle layer. A. profundus, Pict., alpinus, Giimb., striato- 
punctatus, Voltz, cuneiformis, Oost., radians, Coq., and Mal- 
bost, Pict., present this structure. We do not yet know to 
what group of Ammonites they correspond; for they are very 
abundant in certain beds of the Alps, in which Ammonites are 
scarcely ever found. This fact, which has repeatedly fur- 
nished an argument against the opinion that the Aptychus is 
an integral part of the Ammonite, may be explained in various 
ways. We may suppose that after the death of the animal 

* M. Schluter has ascertained that the aptychus of the Scaphites oceu- 


pied exactly the same position (Cephal. der ober. deutsch. Kreide,'1872, 
pl. 25, figs. 5 & 6). 


366 M. E. Favre on some Works relating to 


the Aptychus detached itself from the shell and fell to the 
bottom of the water, whilst the shell of the Ammonite was 
thrown on the shore—or, as M. Zittel has supposed, that these 
organisms belong to a group of naked Tetrabranchs. 

What is the part played by the Aptychus in the Ammonite ? 
The Nautilus presenting nothing like it, it was difficult to de- 
termine its function. Voltz found its analogue in the opercu- 
lum of the Gasteropoda. Von Buch and Quenstedt regard it 
as an internal shell. Keferstein has put forward the opinion 
that the Aptychus might be a protecting organ of the nida- 
mentary glands of the female Ammonite. M. Zittel has cor- 
roborated this opinion by several proofs ; and M. Waagen has 
made it a certainty. 

The normal position of the Aptychus in the Ammonite is so 
closely related to that of the nidamentary gland in the female 
Nautilus, that it seems difficult to assign to it a different func- 
tion. Moreover the soft tissue of this gland has a great re- 
semblance in its various parts to the structure of the different 
types of Aptychus, and the form of the Aptychus corresponds 
very well with that of the outer part of this gland. ‘These vari- 
ous characters indicate therefore almost certainly the purpose 
which it serves, although in no living Cephalopod has there been 
found a similar thickening of the teguments of these glands. 
We may add, as an indirect proof, that no other organ exists 
in the Nautilus with the analogue of which the Aptychus 
could have been connected in the Ammonite. 

It is evident that it could not have served to close the aper- 
ture of the shell. This opinion, which has been repeatedly 
maintained, and quite recently by M. Lehon*, has been refuted 
by M. Waagen. The museum at Munich contains a hun- 
dred specimens of Ammonites still provided with the Aptychus. 
Only five of them present the Aptychus placed perpendicularly 
to the aperture, as M. Lehon has shown it. In all the others 
it is deeply immersed in the shell in the position here figured 
(see opposite), a position which corresponds with that of the 
nidamentary glands of the Nawtilust. M. Waagen shows 
besides, by measurements of Amm. steraspis, that the dimen- 
sions of the Aptychus by no means agree with those of the 
aperture. Moreover its presence in Ammonites provided with 
appendages to the aperture proves evidently that 1t never plays 
the part of an operculum ; for these appendages often approach 
each other towards the apex, and would have entirely paralyzed 
its movements. Keferstein, who had recognized the true 

* Bull. de la Soc. Géol. de France, 1870, vol. xxvii. p. 10. 


+ See, for the position of these glands in the Navtilus, the excellent 
figure given as the frontispiece to Woodward’s Manual. 


anew Classification of Ammonites. 367 


function of the Aptychus, believed that the Anaptychus served 
as an operculum: it occurs, however, in the same position as 


7 


A. steraspis: figure taken from Waagen, Paleeont. xvii. pl. 40. f. 4. 


the former of these organs*; and it is therefore evident that 
it fulfilled the same purpose. 

The function of the Aptychus being thus determined, fur- 
nishes an important point for the determination of the relative 
arrangement of the organs in the Ammonite, which may be 
deduced from that which they occupy in the Nawé‘lus. In 
this animal the nidamentary gland is situated on the siphonal 
side above the adductor muscle, and outside of the ring of 
adherence. It is only natural to suppose that the relations of 
these various organs were the same in the Ammonite. Direct 
observation serves here to confirm the theory. 

Oppel has remarked in a great number of Ammonites from 
the limestones of Solenhofen a mark of a peculiar form (Paliiont. 
Mittheil. pl. 69). M. Waagen has ascertained that this im- 
pression has precisely the same shape as that of the ring of 
adherence in the Nautilus (see the foregoing sketch) ; it is the 
trace of the horny margin of this ring, which has been preserved 
in consequence of the tranquillity of the deposition of the sedi- 
ments. ‘This trace begins at the margin of the aperture, about 
in the middle of the sides, follows the spiral of the shell back 
towards the septum, and then bends forward towards the 
siphonal side. The Aptychus is above and outside of this 


* See A. planorbis, Sow., in Waagen, Palzontogr. 1869, xvii. pl. 40. 
fig. 5. 


368 M. E. Favre on some Works relating to 


mark (that is to say, nearer the siphonal side), the same as the 
nidamentary gland in the Nautclus. This important line once 
ascertained, M. Waagen deduces from it by analogy the position 
of the adductor muscle, of which the trace is ideally represented 
in the figure by a dotted line. 

Apertural appendages—We owe to M. Suess a detailed 
study of these appendages in various groups of Ammonites. 
In the group of the /¢imbriati the ventral side shows nothing 
but a broad, short, and but slightly marked process, while the 
dorsal margin presents a long appendage which spreads far 
over the preceding turn. In the Amalthet, the Falcifert, and 
the Cristati* the keel extends far beyond the anterior margin 
of the chamber, in a long appendage which M. Suess regards 
as destined to support and protect the naked part of the body 
of the Ammonite, and in particular the excretory canal, in 
those groups which are distinguished by the smallness of their 
last chamber ; this appendage curves outwards in A. rostra- 
tust, and inwards in A. Lamberti}. In a great number 
of Ammonites (Ornati, Coronati, Planulati, Flexuosi, Tri- 
marginati) the margins of the shell are produced into lateral 
appendages or auricles of various shapes, which M. Suess 
regards, as I have already stated, as the points of attachment 
for the muscles. In the typical Planulati the discoidal part 
and the stalk of these appendages are both well developed ; in 
the Coronati the stalk is always short and the disk very 
large§$; in A. Jason||, these two organs are more or less 
confounded. The often hollow spiral line that we see in 
many Ammonites (A. lunula, A. canaliculatus, A. bifrons, &c.) 
is produced as far as this appendage; it is nothing but the 
trace left by the stalk, which gradually incorporates itself 
with the shell in proportion as the latter grows, while the 
discoidal part is very probably subjected to resorption. 

If these lateral processes did not serve as points of attachment 
for the muscles, what could have been their use? The margin 
of the aperture of the Nautilus is also falciform ; it is so in a 
more marked manner in some Clymenia, and still more in Ortho- 
ceras undulatum. This process serves in the Nautilus for the 
protection of the head, and in particular of the eye. .We may 
therefore suppose, with much probability, that it fulfilled the 

* See A. Amaltheus and A, costatus, Quenstedt, Jura, p. 162 and pl. 21. 
figs. 1-3; Cephalopoden, pl. 5. fig. 10a; A. serpentinus, Pictet, Traité de 
Paléont. pl. 53. fig. 2; A. eristatus and A. varvans, D’Orbigny, Céphal. 
crét. pls. 88 & 92. 

+ Buvignier, Statistique géolog. de la Meuse, pl. 31. fig. 8. 

{ Quenstedt, Jura, pl. 70. fig. 16. 

§ D’Orbigny, Céphal. Jurass. pl. 149. fig. 1, pls. 185 & 189. 

|| D’Orbigny, Céphal. Jurass, pl. 159, fig. 1. 


a new Classification of Ammonites. 369 


same function in the Ammonite. It occurs constantly in 
certain genera of Ammonites; but this is not the case with 
the auricles ; and the irregularity in the form and presence of 
these organs proves that they were not destined to the part 
M. Suess has attributed to them. 

On examining these appendages with care, we see that 
their length is by no means in inverse proportion to that of 
the chamber. In the Amalthe?, in which the chamber forms 
from half to two thirds of a turn, the margin scarcely pre- 
sents a slight lateral process; in the Planulati, on the con- 
trary, in which it is much longer, the auricles are often well 
developed. Their presence itself is very irregular, even in 
the same species; it presents great variations with age: 
M. Waagen has ascertained that they often disappear at 
a certain age. Moreover, sometimes, of two Ammonites 
of the same species and the same size, one presents auricles 
and the other a simple margin. As examples of this, 
Waagen cites and figures * two A. opalinus obtained at 
Zaskale, in Gallicia. It is probable that these appendages 
had some other physiological function. The species furnished 
with an Anaptychus do not present auricles at any period of 
their existence ; those which have auricles, even if only during 
their youth, have, on the contrary, a true Aptychus. 

The differences which I have just indicated are not sexual 
differences. In fact, there have been found, at Solenhofen, 
amongst the Ammonites which contain Aptychi, as many in- 
dividuals provided with auricles as destitute of them. Now 
we have seen that the Aptychus is a distinctive sign of the 
female Ammonite. Certain shells from this same deposit, in 
which the line of the ring of attachment is still well marked 
and which have consequently been submitted since their death 
only to a slow decomposition in which the soft parts alone 
have disappeared, are not furnished with Aptychi; therefore 
they never had any, and they evidently belonged to males. 
Now they do not present any difference from the female indi- 
viduals, except perhaps a little more strongly marked orna- 
mentation. 

The figures of A. steraspis given by Oppel (Paliont. Mitth. 

1. 69) are very instructive on this point. 

The Structure of the Shell—The shell of the Nautilus is 
composed of two layers—an external layer formed of an 
ageregate of cells of different sizes, and the largest of which 
are those nearest the outside (it forms the most important 
part of the shell properly so called, and M. Suess has named 


* Palwontographica, 1869, xvii. pl. 40. figs. 6 & 7, 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol. xi. 24 


370 M. K. Favre on some Works relating to 


it ostracum), and an internal nacreous layer formed of very 
small cells, which constitutes the septa and lines the inner sur- 
face of the ostracum. ‘The former is secreted by the mantle ; 
the latter by the body of the animal. This same structure has 
been recognized in many Ammonites, notwithstanding the 
difficulties which observation presents ; it is observed, in par- 
ticular, in many Ammonites of the /imbriaté group. 

M. Barrande has established the fact that in many of the 
paleeozoic Cephalopoda the organization was such that not 
only the animal was entirely lodged in the shell, but it could 
not put out more than a comparatively restricted number of its 
organs. ‘This character coexists generally with a great thick- 
ness of the shell, due very probably to the nacreous layer, 
and with certain swellings of this layer which M. Barrande 
has named organic deposit. ‘The structure of certain Ammo- 
nites presents some analogy with this latter fact. In A. cym- 
biformis, of the Trias of Hallstatt, the surface of the ostracum, 
garnished with the striz of growth of the shell, is seen 
continuing regularly without interruption to the anterior 
margin; and it is only where the shell is broken that we 
observe on the cast deep periodical furrows, corresponding to 
so many folds or varices which were formed regularly on the 
inner surface of the shell, and which occur in the youngest in- 
dividuals. Generally these varices do not represent former 
apertures ; for they are not parallel to the lines of growth of 
the ostracum, as is seen in A. Jarbas. The periodical arrests 
of growth which are indicated by these varices have nothing in 
common with those which are necessary for the formation of 
the septa. The constrictions which are observed in the Planu- 
lat’, for example in A. polygyratus, are of a totally different 
nature ; they do not accord with a varix of the interior of the 
shell, but they are produced by folds in the ostracum, without 
any change in the thickness of the shell: M. Suess calls them 
contractions. 'The varices and the contractions have this in 
common, that in each group they are only observed in those 
individuals which have the aperture but little elevated; in 
Arcestes they exist in A. cymbiformis, but they are wanting 
in those which have an elevated aperture, such as A. Layer, 
Metternichi (Pinacoceras, Mojs.). The varices are only seen 
in Goniatites, Arcestes, Phylloceras, and Clymenia. The con- 
tractions are seen in Lytoceras, Perisphinctes, and many other 
Ammonites. The distinction of the contractions and the 
varices seems to agree with that of the great groups of 
Ammonites. 

The wrinkled layer (Runzelschicht) is formed by a deposit 
of calcareous folds in the neighbourhood of the mouth, a 


a new Classification of Ammonites, 371 


little in front, on the convexity of the preceding turn. It has 
been observed in the Goniatites by Keyserling, in many 
Silurian Cephalopoda by M. Barrande, and in the Clymenie by 
M. Giimbel; M.Quenstedt and M.von Hauer have recognized 
it in the Ammonites of the group Arcestes; M. Laube in 
A. (Phylloceras) Jarbas; M. Suess in Clydonites delphi- 
nocephalus. 

This layer extends to a larger or smaller part of the interior 
of the shell ; it becomes gradually effaced and disappears with 
growth. Itappears to be wanting in the genera which present 
contractions. ‘The Ammonites in which it is found (Arcestes 
and Phylloceras) are also those which have varices ; by these 
characters'they approach certain paleeozoic Cephalopoda; they 
are also those which appeared first*. 

The great differences in the structure of the Aptychi indicate 
considerable differences in the structure of the nidamentary 
glands, and consequently in the entire organization of the 
Ammonites. The various characters which we have enume- 
rated seem fully to justify a division into genera of the fossils 
of this great group. This new classification is based, then, 
first of all on the structure of the nidamentary gland; next, 
on the length of the chamber of habitation ; in the third place, 
on the form of the latter and of the aperture, the septa, and the 
ornaments. The general form of the shell, to which the older 
classification attached great importance, seems to be a very 
variable character, and, in consequence, a secondary one. It 
is upon these principles that M. Waagen has based the 
following table :— 


A. NIDAMENTARY GLAND WITHOUT SOLID INTEGUMENT. 


Chamber short; appendage ventral .......... PHYLLOCERAS, Suess, 
Chamber short; appendage dorsal .......... LyTocERras, Suess. 
Chamber very long (14 to 2 turns) .......... ARCESTES, Suess. 


? Chamber short; apertural margin falciform, 
with the appendage ventral; ornaments of 
the same kind as those of the Argonaut .... TRAcHYCERAS, Laube. 


B, NIDAMENTARY GLAND WITH A SOLID INTEGUMENT (Aptychus). 
I. Gland simple, not divided, with :— 
1, Integument horny (Anaptychus). 


Chamber very long (1 to 13 turn); apertural 
margin with a pointed ventral appendage .. AnreTITES, Waag. 
Chamber from 3 to 1 turn; apertural margin 


with a rounded ventral appendage ........ JRGOCERAS, Waag. 
Chamber short (4 to 3 turn); apertural margin 
with a long ventral appendage ............ / AMALTHEUS, Montf. 


* These Ammonites are abundant in the Trias. M. Waagen has lately 
discovered some in the Carboniferous formation in India. 


24* 


372 M..E. Favre on some Works relating to 


2. Integument calcareous. 


Aptychus Numida, Coq. Shell unknown. (Si- 
detes ?) 


Eres Ceete Ee ern ls sinters e —? 


II. Gland double, with the Aptychus calcareous. 


1. Aptychus possessing furrows on the external side. 

Aptychus thin, presenting externally a layer of 

conchioline, which is easily detached. Cham- 

ber short; apertural margin falciform, with 

an acute ventral appendage .............- Harpoceras, Waag. 
Aptychus thick, having internally a solid layer 

of conchioline. Chamber short; apertural 

margin falciform, with a rounded ventral 

BEAD CIRM Ce ncig ys icles! Satywlaie: OW sala bate GREE fe alle hs OppE.ta, Waag. 
Chamber short, having near the aperture a 

groove or a swelling; apertural margin pro- 

vided with lateral auricles and a rounded 


Wemtral Appendage lu... woke bee eben’ Hapoceras, Zitt. 
Chamber pretty long; last turn detached from 
PREP ETESTS Tie is ssl ausgdic sieer bile mare 9 Ae eS ? Scapuirss, Park. 


2. Aptychus thin, granulated externally. 


Chamber long; apertural margin simple or 

farmished with auricles ..:....)2..5.%000' STEPHANOCERAS, Waag. 
Chamber long ; aperture narrowed by a furrow, 

simple or furnished with auricles.......... PERISPHINCTES, Waag. 
Chamber short; aperture simple or furnished 

NVEREUAVEDUCLON 5 5ca54 a2 cis vcie'e nie ws, 3 ain aes Cosmoceras, Waag. 


3, Aptychus thick, smooth, and punctated externally. 


? Chamber long. Umbilicus large. Shell with 
furrows; apertural margin with a nasiform 


WERiTAl APPENAAKO 2 ccs esos ema knee x Srmoceras, Zitt. 
Chamber short; apertural margin generally 
BUTOLOS fin Rte Ripiss Sails lib oth ae nishe 2p Sie Sida BS ASPIDOCERAS, Zitt. 


In this table I have employed the words ventral and dorsal 
in place of siphonal and antisiphonal, because the appendages 
to which they apply, and which are placed at the extremity of 
the last chamber, are not in any way related to the siphon. 
Two newly established genera must be added, viz. Pinacoceras, 
Mojsis., allied to Arcestes, and Peltoceras, Waag., intermediate 
between Perisphinctes and Aspidoceras. 

This table is far from embracing the whole of the family of 
Ammonitide. There are wanting Ceratites and Goniatites, 
long since separated from the true Ammonites, all the unrolled 
Ammonitide, already classified in accordance with other cha- 
racters, and to which the genus Scaphites forms the transition ; 
and, lastly, many true Ammonites for which no genus has yet 
been created, and to which, in the meanwhile, it is necessary 
still to leave the old name, are necessarily omitted from it. 

As the nature of this memoir does not permit me to give 


a new Classification of Ammonites. 373 


here the descriptions of the newly established genera, I confine 
myself to citing the works in which they have been described, 
and giving a few examples of them. In the works indicated, 
there will be found especially the descriptions of the septa 
characteristic of each genus. The names of the authors 
followed by the dates of their publications refer to the biblio- 
graphic note at the commencement of this article. 


Puyttoceras, Suess, 1865, 6. Zittel, 1868, 56; 1870, 153. Neu- 
mayr, Jahrb. geol. Reichsanst. 1871, xxi. 297. Heterophylli, von 
Buch, Ueber Ammoniten, 1832. Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. 
Examples: Ph. Jarbas, heterophyllum, tatricum, Zignodianum, 
ptychoicum, Thetys. 

Lyroceras, Suess, 1865, 8. Zittel, 1869, 70; 1870, 162. Fimbriati, 
lineati. Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. Examples: L. Simony?, 
spherophyllum, fimbriatum, Eudesianum, Adele, Liebigi, subfim- 
briatum. 

Arcrsres, Suess, 1865, 6. Globosi. Triassic. Examples: A. galei- 
formis, subumbilicatus, eymbiformis. 

Prnacoceras, Mojsisovics, Verhandl. geol. Reichsanst. 1872, 315. 
Triassic. Example: P. Metternichi. 

Tracnyceras, Laube, 1869, 15. Triassic. Example: 7. Aon. 

Artetires, Waagen, 1869, 69 ; 1870, 98. Arietes, Von Buch; par- 
tim capricorni. Triassic and Liassic. Examples: A. Bucklandz, 
obtusus. 

Aicoceras, Waagen, 1869, 69 ; 1870, 199. Partim capricorni, coro- 
narii, ornati, macrocephali, &c. Triassic and Liassic. Examples: 
AE. incultum, planorbis, angulatum, Henley?. 

AmattueEvs, Montfort. Waagen, 1869, 69; 1870, 207. Amalthei, 
Von Buch; partim ornati, falciferi, pulchelli, clypeiformi. Triassic, 
Jurassic, and Cretaceous. Examples: A. oawynotus, margaritatus, 
pustulatus, cordatus, Lamberti. 

Harrocreras, Waagen, 1869, 245, 250; 1870, 202. Falciferi, Von 
Buch; partim disci, insignes, clypeiformi. Jurassic. Examples: 
H. radians, opalinum, hecticum, discus. 

Oprretia, Waagen, 1869, 72; 1870, 203. Q&kotraustes, Waagen, 
1869, 25. Oppelia, Zittel, 1870, 175; partim denticulati, disci, 
clypeiformi, ligati. Jurassic and Cretaceous. Zittel has united 
under this name the two subgenera Oppelia, Waag., and Gko- 
traustes, Waag.; he has separated from it the genus Haploceras. 

Examples: 0. subradiata, tenuilobata, flewwosa. 


Hartoceras, Zittel,1870,166. Jurassic and Cretaceous. Examples: 
H. Erato, ooliticum, Grasianum. 

SrepHanoceras, Waagen, 1869, 248; 1870, 205. Coronarii, Von 
Buch ; partim macrocephali, coronati, dentati, bullati, &c. 
Jurassic and Cretaccous. M. Waagen at first made of Stephano- 


374 Dr. A. Giinther on a new Snake from Madagascar. 


ceras a genus which comprised three subgenera, Stephanoceras, 
Perisphinctes, and Cosmoceras; subsequently he raised each of 
these subgenera to the rank of distinct genera. Examples: 
S. Humphriesianum, macrocephalum, coronatum, Parkinson. 


Perispuinctes, Waagen, 1869, 248. Zittel, 1870, 218. Waagen, 
1870, 206. Planulati, Von Buch ; partim macrocephali, coronati, 
coronarii, dentati. Jurassic and Cretaceous. Examples: P. Mar- 
tinsi, plicatilis, biplex, Calisto. 

Petroceras, Waagen, 1871,91. Includes the species detached from 
the genera Perisphinctes and Aspidoceras. Jurassic. Examples: 
P. arduennense, transversarium, athleta. 

Cosmocrras, Waagen, 1869, 248. Zittel, 1870, 215. Waagen, 
1870, 208. Dentati, ornati. Jurassic and Cretaceous. Examples: 
C. calloviense, ornatum, mamillare, verrucosum. 

Smroceras, Zittel, 1870, 207. Tithonic. Examples: S. volanense, 
biruncinatum, strictum, catrianum. 

Aspipocrras, Zittel, 1868, 116. Waagen, 1869, 248. Zittel, 1870, 
192. Middle and Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous. Ex- 


amples: A. hispinosum, cyclotum, orthoceras, Lallierianum, iphi- 
cerus, rogoznicense. 


XLII.—Description of a new Snake from Madagascar. 
By Dr. A. GUNTHER. 


Tue Trustees of the British Museum have purchased some 
specimens of reptiles from Madagascar, and among them a 
snake which appears to be the type of a new genus of the 
family Dendrophide. 


ITHYCYPHUS. 


Body compressed, with the abdominal scutes distinctly 
keeled. Scales smooth, imbricate, without apical groove, in 
twenty-one series. Ventral scutes less than 200; anal and 
subcaudals divided. Upper shields of the head normal. One 
undivided nasal ; loreal distinct; one pre-, three postoculars. 
Pupil round. None of the anterior or middle maxillary teeth 
enlarged ; posterior maxillary tooth grooved. 


Ithycyphus caudolineatus. 


Body slender, compressed; head narrow, flat, with the 
snout depressed, obliquely truncated in front. Eye rather 
small. Vertical bell-shaped. Nostril round, in the middle of 
the narrow, elongate, single nasal shield. Loreal elongate, as 


On the Mollusca of Europe and North America. 375 


long as the nasal. The single preocular reaches to the upper 
surtace of the head, and is in contact with the vertical. ‘Three 
postoculars. Eight upper labials, the fourth and fifth entering 
the orbit. Temporals 1+2+3, but rather irregularly arranged. 
A. groove (of black colour) between the temporals and labials. 
Ventrals 187; subcaudals 135. Brownish, some of the dorsal 
scales with a blackish edge; tail with a black line on each 
side, along the outer margin of the subcaudals ; sometimes 
another pair of less distinct blackish lines along the back of 
the tail. Brownish yellow below, with or without irregular 
powdered spots. 

Total length 33 inches, of which the tail takes 13 inches. 

Southern parts of Madagascar. 


XLIV.—Reply to Professor Verrill’s “ Remarks on certain 
Errors in Mr. Jeffreys’s Article on the Mollusca of Europe 
compared with those of Eastern North America.” By J. 
Gwyn JEFFREYS, F.R.S. 


I HAVE been hitherto prevented by various engagements from 
noticing Prof. Verrill’s remarks on the above article, which 
was published in the ‘ Annals’ of last October. 

Although I would rather invite than deprecate a fair eriti- 
cism of this or any other publication of mine, I cannot help 
regretting that the present critic has not adopted the same 
style of courtesy which so agreeably characterizes his scientific 
countrymen. 

I do not admit the wholesale charge of “ errors” and “ mis- 
takes” which is so freely made in his “ Remarks,” nor that it 
was incumbent on him personally to disclaim my views. Let 
them be examined by some competent authority. 

The errors attributed to me are those which relate to geo- 
graphical and local distribution, to the difference of certain 
species, and to the nomenclature of two other species. 

The question of geographical distribution, involving that of 
migration, is a subject which cannot be hastily disposed of ; 
but Prof. Verrill’s idea that the land and freshwater shells 
which are common to the Old and New Continents may have 
originated in America and thence crossed to Europe “ in the 
direction of the prevailing currents and winds” is more 
ingenious than probable. Currents and winds are not the kind 
of agency we should expect for the migration of such animals. 
However, I will not offend his national susceptibilities any 
further. 

With regard to local distribution I can only repeat that I 


376 On the Mollusca of Europe and North America. 


consulted the recent edition of Gould’s ‘Invertebrata of Massa- 
chusetts,’ and found it a most useful guide. If Prof. Verrill is 
dissatisfied with that work, he may directly criticise it to his 
heart’s content; but he ought not to indirectly criticise it 
through me. 

As to the difference of certain species (9 only out of 401 
species) I would observe as follows :— 

1. Gemma gemma. I am by no means sure that this is not 
the fry of Venus mercenaria, although Prof. Verrill has far 
greater opportunities than I have for deciding the matter. 

2. Arca transversa. This may be distinct from A. pexata, 
and not merely a variety of it; but Prof. Verrill is evidently 
fond of adopting genera founded on unimportant characters, 
and his proneness to multiply species also may therefore be 
assumed as probable. 

3. Mactra ovalis. I cede the point to Prof. Verrill as to this 
being distinct from M. solidissima. I had not seen specimens 
of M. ovalis and the preceding two controverted species, and 
only formed my opinion from Gould’s work. 

4, Astarte castanea. A. borealis and other species of the 
same genus are so polymorphous that I was justified in saying 
A. castanea is “ perhaps a variety of A. borealis.” I fully 
expect to see a connecting link between them. The same 
observation will apply to A. quadrans. 

5. Pecten fuscus. Prof. Verrill may be right in stating that 
this is the young of P. tenuicostatus and not of P. irradians. 
I judged otherwise from the description of the first-named 
species in Gould’s work. 

6. Dentalium dentale, Gould. I admit that this may be 
specifically, but not generically, distinct from D. striolatum. 

7. Dentalium striolatum. Having examined and carefully 
compared numerous specimens of this shell and D. abyssorum, 
I have no hesitation in considering them the same species. 
All have a terminal pipe (as in D. dentalis), which is partly 
slit (as in D. entalis), so as to connect Dentalium with the so- 
called genus Hntalis. 

8. Crepidula plana. If Prof. Verrill has found this species 
on the outstde of other univalve shells or other substances in 
company with typical specimens of C. fornicata, and there is no 
intermediate form, I agree that they may be different species. 

9. Margarita acuminata. Probably distinct from J/. varicosa. 

As to the alleged errors of nomenclature, my answer is 
this :— 

Ajolis salmonacea and A’. gymnota. Couthouy certainly 
described both before Dekay ; and the names of the former 
must therefore stand for these species. 


‘Bibliographical Notices. 377 


Lacuna divaricata. The mistake made by Fabricius in 
supposing this was Linné’s species does not invalidate his claim 
to the authorship of the specific name, inasmuch as it belongs 
to a different genus. The specific name has been adopted by 
Miller, Lovén, Sars, the Messrs. Adams, Petit, and nearly 
every other writer on North-Kuropean shells. 

Natica affinis of Gmelin is unquestionably the N. clausa of 
Sowerby. It was originally figured and noticed by Olafsen 
and Povelsen in their‘ Reise igiennem Island’ (1772), vol. i. 
t. x. and vol. i. pp. 665 and 1016. It was afterwards (1776) 
described by O. F’. Miiller in his Prodromus to the ‘Zoologia 
Daniea,’ p. 245. no. 2956, citing Olafsen and Povelsen’s work, 
but without a specific name. That name (affinis) was given 
by Gmelin in his edition of the ‘Systema Nature’ (1788), 
p- 3675, with a reference to Miiller as above and the following 
habitat, “‘in Oceano septentrionali.”” Prof. Verrill has mistaken 
for this species the® Nerita australis of Gmelin, which is 
described as having a silverish mouth or aperture and inha- 
biting New Zealand. He might have spared his note of 
admiration. 

In conclusion I acknowledge my obligation to Prof. Verrill 
for pointing out the mistakes, although so very few, which I 
made. I conscientiously did my best with the materials at 
my command, and [ am satisfied if I have done something 
towards correlating the European with the North-American 


Mollusca. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES, 


Birds of the Humber District. By Joun Corpravx. 
London: Van Voorst, 1872. 


Tue pursuit of Natural History has, we rejoice to say, become ex- 
ceedingly popular of late years; and perhaps nothing has tended to 
diffuse this taste more generally than the publication of local Faunas. 
Not very long ago the immortal chronicler of Selborne, whom every 
field-naturalist still regards as his patron saint, stood nearly alone 
in this department; and his faithful though simple records, limited 
almost to a single parish, have possessed a charm for succeeding 
generations, and roused a kindred feeling among out-of-door observers, 
who naturally take a deeper interest in things they see around them 
than in those they merely read of. If “the schoolmaster has been 
abroad,” so has the botanist, the geologist, the entomologist, and 
last, though not least, the ornithologist. So preeminent, indeed, are 
the attractions of this charming study, that its votaries are probably 


378 Bibliographical Notices. 


more numerous than those of any other branch of zoology. We do 
not here allude to what may be termed the science of ornithology 
or to the labours of the closet-naturalist, to the manufacture of 
genera or the nomenclature of species, but to the knowledge ac- 
quired and to the delight experienced by the true lover of nature, 
who studies the habits of his feathered favourites in the woods, in 
the fields, on the sea-shore, or in the swamps and fens of the county 
to which, either from choice or chance, his attention has been espe- 
cially directed. 

Such a one is Mr. Cordeaux, the author of the volume before us, 
which is evidently the result of assiduous observation at all seasons 
and in all weathers, during a period of ten years, in the maritime 
tract which he characterizes as ‘“ The Humber District,” including 
within its limits not only the wide estuary itself, with its muddy flats 
from the Spurn Head to its junction with the Trent and Ouse, but 
“the lands adjoining, namely part of North and Mid Lincolnshire 
and Holderness, a district enclosed to the north, west, and south by 
the curved sweep of the wold hills. To the east its sea-board ex- 
tends from Flamborough Head in the north to Skegness on the 
Lincolnshire coast in the south. This is a well-defined and clearly 
marked province, both geologically and zoologically. It may be 
compared to a half circle or bent bow, the Lincolnshire and York- 
shire wolds forming the bow, the coast-line the string; whilst the 
great river itself is like an arrow placed in the string and across 
the bow, dividing the district into two nearly equal divisions.” 
(Introduction, page v.) 

But in spite of the attractions it still possesses for the practical 
observer, our author tells us that even in the beginning of the pre- 
sent century, “ when Colonel Montagu made his celebrated ornitho- 
logical tour through Lincolnshire,” it had been shorn of much of its 
ancient wildness, “immense changes having taken place in the 
physical features of the country by the drainage and partial culti- 
vation of the fen lands. Some species of birds had disappeared, and 
others were rapidly verging on extinction.” Truly it must have 
been a perfect paradise for wild fowl before it became what it now 
is, “ probably the best-farmed county in the kingdom.” 

Mr. Cordeaux says that the migratory birds visiting this district 
in the autumn and winter, almost without an exception, come from 
the direction of the sea, arriving on the coast in lines of flight vary- 
ing from full north to east. 

««The only exception to this rule is that of the Grey or Winter 
Wagtail (Motacilla boarula), which reaches us from the west or north- 
west. In the spring also, I am strongly inclined to think, the 
greater portion of our little summer visitors, including the delicate 
Warblers and Willow-wrens, arrive from the sea, coming from the 
south-east to east, appearing first in the warmer and low-lying 
country between the coast and the foot of the wold range, and gra- 
dually extending inland across the high wolds, a cold backward 
district, to the interior of the county.” (Introduction, page vi.) 

The latter portion of the above paragraph is exceedingly interest- 


Bibliographical Notices. 379 


ing. We can testify, from our own observation, that most of our 
insectivorous vernal visitors, in the southern and south-western 
maritime countie8, also “arrive directly from the sea,” apparently 
from the opposite coast of France ; but to reach the Humber district 
these delicate migrants from the south (and even from the south- 
east) apparently make a detowr of many miles to avoid the pro- 
jecting coast of Norfolk, showing that ‘the overland route” has 
less attraction for them ‘than the open sea-voyage at this season of 
the year. 

Our author fully appreciates the value of that indispensable com- 
panion of the field-naturalist, a good spy-glass. We envy his expe- 
rience as recorded in the following passage :— 

“The Godwits which visit our foreshore in the spring and autumn 
feed largely on an annelid, Arenicola piscatorwm, or some allied 
species, which they obtain by boring. With the aid of my telescope 
I have frequently observed their manner of feeding. They advance 
rather quickly over the flats, and at the same time keep rapidly 
thrusting their long bills into the ooze, as if feeling for some con- 
cealed creature. It is easy to see when any are successful, as 
instantly every motion displays extreme energy, the bird’s head 
itself being half buried in its eagerness to grasp and hold its wrig- 
gling prey. Often when the bill is withdrawn I have seen a huge 
lob-worm, held crossways, dangling from it. This requires some 
little manipulation before it can be swallowed; the Godwit’s head 
is thrown backwards, and the mandibles are rapidly worked till the 
worm becomes properly adjusted, when down it goes, the neck per- 
ceptibly swelling and thickening in the descent; then there is a 
satisfied smack of the mandibles, and the search recommences.” 
(Page 119.) 

The Ruff (Machetes pugnax) and Reeve (female) are still associated 
in the popular mind with the fens of Lincolnshire; and, judging 
from the numbers occasionally exposed in the London markets, the 
species is yet numerous; but most, if not all, of these birds are 
supplied from Holland. Mr. Cordeaux says :— 

“The Ruff and Reeve, formerly so abundant in Lincolnshire, 
where its capture and feeding for the London market was a regular 
trade, is now only known as a bird of passage, lingering for a few 
weeks or days in small numbers in the neighbourhood of its old 
haunts during the period of the spring and autumn migrations. It 
is almost a regular autumn, but only an occasional spring, visitant 
to this district.” (Page 120.) 

That apparently fragile little creature, the Golden-crested Wren 
(Regulus cristatus), unlike so many comparatively robust insectivorous 
birds, remains with us the whole year; but, avoiding equally the 
extremes of heat and cold, vast numbers arrive on the east coast of 
Lincolnshire and Yorkshire at the period of the autumnal migration, 
when they ‘ cross the wild North Sea, arriving on our eastern shores 
in October. The migration of the Goldcrests is now a fact as well 
established as is that of the Woodcocks. They appear about the 
second or third week in October, preceding the Woodcocks by a few 


380 Bibliographical Nottces. 


days ; and so well is this known to those living on the east coast of 
Yorkshire and Lincolnshire that they have earned for themselves 
the sobriquet of the ‘ Woodcock-pilots.’ Almost every year I find 
some about the second week of October, either: on the Humber 
embankments or in the marsh hedgerows. On the 12th of that 
month in 1863 an extraordinary flight appeared in the Great-Cotes 
marshes. On that morning I observed large numbers of these fairy 
birds on the hedgerows and bushes in the open marsh district near 
the Humber, many also creeping up and down on the reeds in the 
drains, and at my lonely marsh farmstead quantities of these active 
little fellows, everywhere busily searching every nook and corner on 
the fold-yard fences, the cattle-sheds, and stacks. The Goldcrest 
appears in flocks every year, both at Spurn and Flamborough, about 
the middle of October; they have on several occasions been found 
dead beneath these lighthouses, having dashed bewildered against 
the glass lanterns in their night migration.” (Page 37.) 

Equally valuable are our author’s notes on the arrival and de- 
parture of our shore and sea birds; but some of his personal ex- 
periences and observations are even more especially interesting ; and 
we only regret that we have not space for copious extracts in veri- 
fication of our opinion. Here is a delightful little episode, the hero 
of which is one of our rarest feathered visitors from the far north, 
and the only example of the species that Mr. Cordeaux had ever 
met with in the county :— 

“ December 12th, 1870. I came quite suddenly this morning on 
a beautiful little Phalarope (Phalaropus hyperboreus) swimming in 
a drain near the Humber. I saw at once, by its small size (about 
as large as a Dunlin) and plumage, that it was not the grey species. 
The little bird rode as buoyantly as a gull upon the water, with 
head thrown backward like a duck. It was the first occasion that 
I have seen a Phalarope in these marshes; I observed all its 
movements intently. It was shy, but not wild, diving on my 
approach for twenty yards up the drain, and then, leaving the water, 
ran along the narrow strip of ‘warp’ like a Sandpiper. On my 
moving forward it again entered the water, diving further up the 
drain, issuing as before on to the ‘warp,’ but this time under the 
opposite bank ; the dive was again repeated, when I lost sight of it 
round a sharp bend in the stream. For the next ten minutes I 
stood at this corner, vainly looking both. up and down the drain for 
its reappearance, and had nearly given it up when I canght sight 
of the little creature directly opposite, and within a few feet—so near, 
that had I reached forward I might have touched it with the gun- 
muzzle. No wonder that I had overlooked it ; for it had now exactly 
the appearance of a small lump of earth fallen from the bank; the 
whole of its body was sunk below the water, excepting the upper 
part of the back and head from just below the eyes, which were 
level with the surface—the bill and fore part of the forehead also 
immersed, the water covering the hind part of the neck between the 
back and head. The deception was perfect; and had I not been 
specially looking, I might have passed the place scores of times 


Bibliographical Notices. 381 


without noting any thing unusual. As it was, I had stood within a 
few feet for several minutes, and had passed my eyes over and over 
again across the» place without finding it. Once, and once only, it 
raised its head, and immediately afterwards dived, going under very 
quietly and leaving hardly a ripple; this time I saw it emerge on 
the drain side about the same distance, namely twenty yards. 
Just then a flight of Plover passed, at which I fired; and I think 
the report must have caused it to rise, as, although I spent an hour 
in looking up and down the drain, and returned again at a later 
period in the day, I saw it no more.” (Page 140.) 

Vast numbers of Guillemots pat troile) and Razor-bills (Alcea 
torda) breed on the precipitous cliff of Flamborough Head, as well 
as in various similar localities on the coasts of the British Islands. 
We ourselves have never had the good fortune to observe the mode 
in which the mother birds safely convey their young to the water 
from their aérial nurseries on the upper ledges, although we have 
often watched patiently for hours, in the vain hope of witnessing 
the performance. Indeed until now we never met with a satis- 
factory solution of the mystery; but here it is :— 

«When the young are partly fledged, and even when they are 
quite little things, the old birds carry them down to the sea on their 
backs. This is done late in the evening, after sunset. The Flam- 
borough boatmen say that when they are fishing under the Speeton 
Cliffs, on summer evenings, they have often observed this process of 
carrying the young down, the little fellow clinging to its parent’s 
back, and not unfrequently tumbling from the somewhat precarious 
perch into the sea sooner than was intended.” (Page 184.) 

We must now take leave of this, the latest contribution to the 
avifauna of the British Islands, which, as a careful and painstaking 
record of the arrival of our migratory birds on the shores and flats 
of the wild and interesting region to which the author’s remarks 
have been limited, may be regarded as almost exhaustive ; and we 
heartily recommend, as a model for future monographers with 
similar tastes and equal opportunities, this charming little volume on 
the “birds of the Humber District.” 


Lecture on the Fere Nature of the British Islands. 
By Joun Cotaunoun, Author of ‘The Moor and the Loch,’ &c. 


Ir quality, not quantity, is the test of merit, then is the little 
brochure before us (for its modest dimensions forbid a claim to a 
more ambitious title) deserving of our warmest commendation. 
Though purporting to be simply “a lecture delivered to the 
St. Steven’s Young Men’s Literary Society,” yet it contains matter 
that might easily be expanded into a goodly volume. Indeed the 
pleasure we have experienced in perusing its few though charming 
pages induces us to regard with envy the favoured audience who 
enjoyed the still greater treat of listening to the instructive words 
of such an observant naturalist and dexterous sportsman as the 
author of ‘The Moor and the Loch.’ 


382 Bibliographical Notices. 


Unlike many who undertake to deliver public lectures in the 
present day to their less enlightened brethren, nothing has been 
“got up” by Mr. Colquhoun for the occasion. There has been no 
“cramming” or petty larceny from the labours of others; all is 
fresh and original, the result of long personal experience. Few 
indeed of the present, and still fewer of the rising generation, can 
venture to hope for such opportunities as have fallen to the lot of 
this veteran observer. Even in Scotland the nobler predatory 
quadrupeds are rapidly diminishing in number, while in England 
they have, with the exception of the fox, all but disappeared, the 
exclusive preservation of Reynard as an object of sport having per- 
petuated the species ; but even in the Scottish Highlands, where no 
such immunity from persecution exists, Mr. Colquhoun considers 
that he will be “ the last to disappear,” as “ from his swiftness and 
strength he can gather subsistence scattered over an immense tract 
of country, and when food fails on the higher grounds can make a 
raid on the lowlands during the long wintry nights, returning again 
to shelter with his booty ere the day dawns. Next, the great 
increase of alpine hares on the mountains and gradual but steady 
introduction of rabbits into many remote ranges, afford the hill-fox 
a favourite meal with but little trouble in securing it. Lastly, of 
all beasts of prey sly Reynard is the most difficult to trap.” 

On the other hand the marten (Martes foina) and the wild cat 
(Felis catus) are easily deceived with a bait. ‘Indeed both are so 
greedy and fearless as to rush into the snare for a piece of raw 
meat. Neither have speed to hold out before a swift plucky terrier, 
but are quickly ‘treed’ or run to ground. Should they take refuge 
in a hole or cleft of the rock, they are not difficult to bolt by smoke ; 
but if they prove stubborn a neatly set trap will most likely secure 
them after nightfall. Nowonder,then, that these interesting carnivora 
have vanished from the greater part of even the Scottish hill-districts, 
and that a tourist may now explore two thirds of the Highlands, 
and far from seeing either of them will find from the natives that 
there are none to be seen!” 

Our author shares the popular belief that the dark ferrets, so 
common in every ratcatcher’s hutch, owe their dusky hue to polecat 
parentage. He says, “dark ferrets exactly resemble foumarts, 
only they are smaller and of lighter shade. Many of these brown 
ferrets are half polecats ; in fact the polecat is just a wild ferret.” 

Most of our high zoological authorities are of a different opinion. 
Bell considers the ferret (Mustela furo) specifically distinct from 
the polecat (Mustela putorius), and says that “ of the assertion that 
the breeders of ferrets have recourse to the polecat to improve the 
breed he could obtain no authentic verification” *. Surely this 
queestio vexata might easily be decided by experiment. 

In reference to the food of the foumart, Mr. Colquhoun records 
that he found on one occasion, under the last massive boulder of a 
huge heap of stones, a female polecat with three young ones and 


* ‘British Quadrupeds.’ 


Royal Society. 383 


the remains of several large yellow frogs—and adds, “ Still more 
difficult to credit, eels are often found among the food-store. How 
he catches them I have some curiosity to know. Yarrell says eels 
slide like serpents over the dewy grass from one drain to another. 
If so, the difficulty ends ; for the foumart’s instinct would soon teach 
it to watch for the land progress of its slimy prey.” 

In dear old Bewick, the delight of our youth, the woodcut of the 
foumart represents the animal with an eel in its mouth, the accuracy 
of the illustration being founded on the fact that several fine eels 
were discovered in its retreat, and that it had been tracked in the 
snow to the banks of a rivulet. Now we have never met with any 
one who could assert that they had ever seen a foumart in the water, 
and the matter has always been a puzzle to us ; but we have to thank 
Mr. Colquhoun for dispelling the mystery. 

We regret that the limited space at our disposal forbids us to 
indulge in further quotations. Suffice it to say that the badger 
(Meles taxus), the otter (Lutra vulgaris), and even the rat, all come 
in for their share of notice, their habits being graphically described 
and illustrated by characteristic anecdotes. We cordially recommend 
this interesting essay to the general reader as well as to the natura- 
list and sportsman. 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 


ROYAL SOCIETY. 
Jan. 30, 1873.—George Busk, Esq., Vice-President, in the Chair. 


‘Note on the Origin of Bacteria, and on their Relation to the 
Process of Putrefaction.” By H. Cuarnron Basrian, M.D., F.R.S. 


In his now celebrated memoir of 1862, M. Pasteur asserted and 
claimed to have proved (1) that the putrefaction occurring in 
certain previously boiled fluids after exposure to the air was due 
to the contamination of the fluids by Bacteria, or their germs, 
which had before existed in the atmosphere, and (2) that all the 
organisms found in such fluids have been derived more or less 
immediately from the reproduction of germs which formerly existed 
in the atmosphere. 

The results of a long series of experiments have convinced me 
that both these views are untenable. 

In the first place, it can be easily shown that living Bacteria, or 
their germs, exist very sparingly in the atmosphere, and that solu- 
tions capable of putrefying are not commonly infected from this 
source. 

It has now been very definitely ascertained that certain fluids 
exist which, after they have been boiled, are incapable of giving 
birth to Bacteria, although they continue to be quite suitable for 


384 Loyal Society :-— 


the support and active multiplication of any such organisms as 
may have been purposely added to them. Amongst such fluids I 
may name that now commonly known as “ Pasteur’s solution,” and 
also one which I have myself more commonly used, consisting of 
a simple aqueous solution of neutral ammonic tartrate and neutral 
sodic sulphate*. When portions of either of these fluids are 
boiled and poured into superheated flasks, they will continue quite 
clear for many days, or even for weeks ; that is to say, although 
the short and rather narrow neck of the flask remains open the 
fluids will not become turbid, and no Bacteria are to be discovered 
when they are submitted to microscopical examination. 

But in order to show that such fluids are still thoroughly 
favourable media for the multiplication of Bacteria, all that is 
necessary is to bring either of them into contact with a glass rod 
previously dipped into a fluid containing such organisms. In about 
thirty-six hours after this has been done (the temperature being 
about 80° F.), the fluid, which had hitherto remained clear, becomes 
quite turbid, and is found, on examination with the microscope, to 
be swarming with Bacteriat. 

Facts of the same kind have also been shown by Dr. Burdon 
Sanderson ¢ to hold good for portions of boiled ‘“ Pasteur’s solu- 
tion.” Air was even drawn through such a fluid daily for a time, 
and yet it continued free from Bacteria, 

Evidence of this kind has already been widely accepted as justify- 
ing the conclusion that living Bacteria or their germs are either 
wholly absent from or, at most, only very sparingly distributed 
through the atmosphere. The danger of infection from the 
atmosphere having thus been got rid of and shown to be delusive, 
I am now able to bring forward other evidence tending to show 
that the first Bacteria which appear in many boiled infusions 
(when they subsequently undergo putrefactive changes) are evolved 
de novo in the fluids themselves. These experiments are more- 
over so simple, and may be so easily repeated, that the evidence 
which they are capable of supplying lies within the reach of all. 

That boiling the experimental fluid destroys the life of any 
Bacteria or Bacteria-germs preexisting therein is now almost uni- 
versally admitted ; it may, moreover, be easily demonstrated. If 
a portion of “ Pasteur’s solution” be purposely infected with living 
Bacteria and subsequently boiled for two or three minutes, it will 
continue (if left in the same flask) clear for an indefinite period ; 
whilst a similarly infected portion of the same fluid, not subse- 
quently boiled, will rapidly become turbid. Precisely similar 
phenomena occur when we operate with the neutral fluid which 
I have previously mentioned ; and yet M. Pasteur has ventured to 
assert that the germs of Bacteria are not destroyed in neutral or 


* In the proportion of 10 grains of the former and 3 of the latter to 1 ounce 
of distilled water. 

+ The Modes of Origin of the Lowest Organisms, 1871, pp. 80, 51. 

{ Thirteenth Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council (1871), 
p. 59. 


Dr. H. C. Bastian on the Origin of Bacteria. 385 


slightly alkaline fluids which have been merely raised to the 
boiling-point *. 

Even M. Pasteur, however, admits that the germs of Bacteria 
and other allied organisms are killed in slightly acid fluids which 
have been boiled for a few minutes; so that there-is a perfect 
unanimity of opinion (amongst those best qualified to judge) as 
to the destructive effects of a heat of 212° F. upon any Bacterva 
or Bacteria-germs which such fluids may contain. 

Taking such a fluid, therefore, in the form of a strong filtered 
infusion of turnip, we may placeit after ebullition in a superheated 
flask with the assurance that it contains no living organisms. 
Having ascertained also by our previous experiments with the 
boiled saline fluids that there is no danger of infection by Bacteria 
from the atmosphere, we may leave the rather narrow mouth of 
the flask open, as we did in these experiments. But when this is 
done, the previously clear turnip-infusion invariably becomes turbid 
in one or two days (the temperature being about 70° F.), owing to 
the presence of myriads of Bacteria. 

Thus, if we take twe similar flasks, one of which contains a 
boiled ‘“* Pasteur’s solution ” and the other a boiled turnip-infusion, 
and if we place them beneath the same bell-jar, it will be found 
that the first fluid remains clear and free from Bacteria for an 
indefinite period, whilst the second invariably becomes turbid in 
one or two days. 


What is the explanation of these discordant results? We have 
a right to infer that all preexisting life has been destroyed in each 
of the fluidst; we have proved also that such fluids are not 
usually infected by Bacteria derived from the air; im this very 
case, in fact, the putrescible saline fluid remains pure, although 
the organic infusion standing by its side rapidly putrefies. We 
can only infer, therefore, that whilst the boiled saline solution is 
quite incapable of engendering Bacteriat, such organisms are able 
to arise de novo in the boiled organic infusion. 

Although this inference may be legitimately drawn from such 
experiments as I have here referred to, fortunately it is confirmed 
and strengthened by the labours of many investigators who have 
worked under the influence of much more stringent conditions, 
and in which closed vessels of various kinds have been employed $. 

Whilst we may therefore infer (1) that the putrefaction which 


* How unwarrantable such a conclusion appears to be, I have elsewhere 
endeavoured to show. See ‘ Beginnings of Life,’ 1872, vol. i. pp. 826-333, 372- 
399. 

+ [Note. Jan. 31, 1873.]—In ‘The Beginnings of Life,’ vol. i. p. 332, note 1, 
I have cited facts strongly tending to show that Bacteria are killed in infusions 
of turnip or of hay when these have been heated to a temperaturejof 140° F. 
They also seem to die at the same temperature in solutions of ammonic tartrate 
with sodic phosphate. 

t See ‘ Beginnings of Life,’ vol. ii. p. 35, and vol. i. p. 463. 

§ See a recent communication by Prof. Burdon Sanderson, in ‘ Nature,’ 
January 9th. 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 25 


386 Royal Society :— 


occurs in many previously boiled fluids when exposed to the air 
is not due to a contamination by germs derived from the atmo- 
sphere, we have also the same right to conclude (2) that in many 
cases the first organisms which appear in such fluids have arisen 
de novo, rather than by any process of reproduction from pre- 
existing forms of life. 

Admitting, therefore, that Bacteria are ferments capable of 
initiating putrefactive changes, I am a firm believer also in the 
existence of not-living ferments under the influence of which 
putrefactive changes may be initiated in certain fluids—changes 
which are almost invariably accompanied by a new birth of living 
particles capable of rapidly developing into Bacteria. 


Feb. 27, 1873.—William Spottiswoode, M.A., Treasurer and Vice- 
President, in the Chair. 


“On Leaf-Arrangement.” By Husrrr Arry, M.A., M.D. 


Assuming as generally known the main facts of leaf-arrange- 
ment, the division into the whorled and spiral types, and in 
the latter more especially the establishment of the convergent 
series of fractions 4, 4, 2, 3, +, , 44, 24, 34 Bb. ke. as re- 
presentatives of a corresponding series of spiral leaf-orders among 
plants, we have to ask, what is the meaning that lies hidden in 
this law ? 

Mr. Darwin has taught us to regard the different species of 
plants as descended from some common ancestor; and therefore 
we must suppose that the different leaf-orders now existing have 
been derived by different degrees of modification from some com- 
mon ancestral leaf-order. 

One spiral order may be made to pass into another by a twist 
of the axis that carries the leaves. This fact indicates the way in 
which all the spiral orders may have been derived from one 
original order, namely by means of different degrees of twist in 
the axis. 

We naturally look to the simplest of existing leaf-orders, the 
two-ranked alternate order 3, as standing nearest to the original ; 
for it is manifest that the orders at the other extreme of the 
series (the condensed arrangement of scales on fir-cones, of florets 
in heads of Composite, of leaves in close-lying plantains, &c.) 
are special and highly developed instances, to meet special needs 
of protection and congregation: they are, without doubt, the 
latest feat of phyllotactic development; and we may be sure that 
the course of change has been from the simple to the complex, 
not the reverse. This poimt will be illustrated by experiment 
below. 

But first, what are the uses of these orders? and at what period 
of the leaf’s life does the advantage of leaf-order operate? The 
period must be that at which the leaf-order is most perfect— 
not, therefore, when the twig is mature, with long internodes 
between the leaves, but while the twig and its leaves are yet in 
the bud; for itis in the bud (and similar crowded forms) that 


Dr. Hl. Airy on Leaf-Arrangement. 387 


the leaf-order is in perfection, undisturbed by contortions or 
inequalities of growth; but as the bud develops into the twig 
the leaves becoming separated, the stem often gets a twist, the leaf- 
stalks are curved and wrung to present the blades favourably to 
the light, and thus the leaf-order that was perfect in the bud is 
disguised in the grown twig. 

In lateral shoots of yew and bow and silver fir we see how leaves 
will get their stalks twisted to obtain more favourable exposure to 
light; and if general distribution round the stem were useful to 
the adult leaves, we should expect the leaves of a vertical elm-shoot 
(for example) to secure such distribution by various twists of stalk 
and stem; but the leaf-blades of the elm keep their two ranks 
with very great regularity. This goes to show that it is not in 
the mature twig that the leaf-order is specially advantageous. 

In the bud we see at once what must be the use of leaf-order. 
It is for economy of space, whereby the bud is enabled to retire 
into itself and present the least surface to outward danger and 
vicissitudes of temperature. The fact that the order 4 does not 
exhibit this advantage im any marked degree, supports the idea 
that this order is the original from which all the more complex 
spiral orders have been derived. 

The long duration of the bud-life as compared with the open- 
air life of the leaf gives importance to the conditions of the for- 
mer. ‘The open-air life of the bud is twelve months, and adding 
the embryo life of the bud, we have about a year and a half for 
the whole life of the bud; and for the twelve months of its open- 
air life it is in a state of siege, against which a compact arrange- 
ment of its embryo-leaves within must be of great value. But 
the open-air life of the unfolded leaves is (except in evergreens) 
not more than six months. 


That the order 3 would under different degrees of contraction 
(with twist) assume successively the various spiral orders that 
exist in nature, in the order of their complexity, 3, 2, 3, 735, &e., 
may be shown by the following experiment :— 

Take a number of spheres (say oak-galls) to represent embryo 
leaves, and attach them in two rows in alternate order (4) along 
opposite sides of a stretched india-rubber band. Give the band a 
shght twist, to determine the direction of twist in the subsequent 
contraction, and then relax tension. The two rows of spheres will 
roll up with a strong twist into a tight complex order, which, if 
the spheres are attached in close contact with the axis, will be 
nearly the order 3, with three steep spirals. If the spheres are set 
a little away from the axis, the order becomes condensed into 
(nearly) 2, with great precision and stability. And it appears 
that further contraction, with increased distance of the spheres 
from the axis, will necessarily produce the orders (nearly) 3, 3°5, 
3, &e. im succession, and that these successive orders represent 
successive maaima of stability in the process of change from the 
simple to the complex. 


25* 


388 Royal Society :-— 


It also appears that the necessary sequence of these successive 
steps of condensation, thus determined by the geometry of the 
case, does necessarily exclude the non-existent orders, 7, 3, #, 4, 
4.. &e. 
* Nambering the spheres from 0 upwards, it appears that, under 
contraction, the following numbers are brought successively into 
contact with 0, alternately to right and left:—1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 
21, 34, 55, 89, 144, &e. None of them stands vertically above 0 
while in contact with it, but a little to the right or a little to the 
left; and so far the results of this experiment fall short of the 
perfect fractions 3, 2, 3, 55 &c.: but in this very failure the results 
of the experiment are more closely in agreement with nature than 
are those perfect fractions themselves ; for those fractions give the 
angular divergence only in round numbers (so to speak), and lose 
account of the little more, or the little less, which makes all the 
difference between a vertical rank and a spiral. In the large 
majority of spiral-leaved plants, one has to be content with “ 2 
nearly ” or “ 3 nearly ;” and it is difficult to find a specimen in which 
the fraction represents the order exactly. 

The geometrical relations of the members of the above series 
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, &. are as simple as their numerical relations. 


Analysis of the order seen in the head of the sunflower and 
other examples, by consideration of their several sets of spirals, 
presents a striking agreement with the above synthetical process. 
In the sunflower, a marginal seed taken as 0 is found to be in 
contact with the 34th, the 55th, and the 89th (counted in order 
of growth), and even with the 144th, if there is not contact 
with the 34th. The dandelion, with a lower degree of conden- 
sation, has 0 in contact with the 13th, the 21st, and the 34th in 
large specimens ; the house-leek in its leaf-order has 0 in con- 
tact with the 5th, 8th, and 13th; the apple-bud has 0 in contact 
with the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th; and thus we see that in nature the 
very same series of numbers is found to have contact-relation 
with 0 which we have already seen possessing that relation in 
the experimental condensation of the order 3. 


Difference of leaf-order in closely allied species (e.g. Plantago 
major and P. coronopus) is found in close relation to their different 
habits and needs. 

The prevalence of the order } in marine Alga, and in Graminee, 
a low-developed gregarious group, and its singular freedom from 
individual variation in that group and in elm, beech, &c., support 
the view that this order is the original of the spiral orders. 

In many plants we find actual transition from the order 3 to an 
order more complex, as, for instance, in Spanish chestnut, laurels, 
nut, wy; and these instances agree in presenting the complex 
order in the buds that occupy the most exposed situations, while 
they retain the simple 3 in the less-exposed lateral buds. Several 
kinds of aloe have the order 3 in their basal leaves, and a higher 
order in the remainder. A species of cactus often contains a 


On a new Genus of Amphipod Crustaceans. 389 


complete epitome of phyllotaxy in a single plant, or even in a 
single shoot. 

Shoots of acacia often present a zigzag disposition of then 
leaves, on either side of the branch, which seems unintelligible 
except as a distortion of an original two-ranked order. 

The prevalent two-ranked arrangement of rootlets or roots seems 
to be a survival underground of an order which originally pre- 
vailed through the whole plant, root, stem, and branch. 

In the whole Monocotyledonous class the first leaves in the seed 
have the order 3. 

In the Dicotyledonous class the first leaves in the seed have 
the simplest order of the whorled type. 


As the spiral orders have probably been derived from a two- 
ranked alternate arrangement, so the whorled orders have pro- 
bably been derived from a two-ranked collateral (two abreast) 
arrangement. his is illustrated by an experiment similar to 
the former; and it is seen that successive parallel horizontal pairs 
of spheres are compelled under contraction to take position at right 
angles to one another, exactly im the well-known crucial or 
decussate order. These whorls of two contain potentially whorls 
of three and four, as is seen in variations of the same plant ; but the 
experiment does not show the change. 

The reason of the non-survival of the (supposed) two-ranked 
collateral order lies in its manifest instability; for under lateral 
pressure it would assume the alternate, and under vertical the 
crucial order. 

The bud presents in its shape a state of equilibrium between 
a force of contraction, a force of constriction, and a force of growth. 


To sum up, we are led to suppose that the original of all existing 
leaf-orders was a two-ranked arrangement, somewhat irregular, 
admitting of two regular modifications, the alternate and the 
collateral—and_ that the alternate has given rise to all the spiral 
orders, and the collateral to all the whorled orders, by means of 
advantageous condensation in the course of ages. 


March 6, 1873.—Sir George Biddell Airy, K.C.B., President, in the 
Chair. 


“On a new Genus of Amphipod Crustaceans.” By RupoLpu 
von Witiemées-Suum, Ph.D., Naturalist to the ‘Challenger’ 
Exploring-Expedition. 


Tn lat. 35° 47’, long. 8° 23', off Cape St. Vincent, the trawl 
was sent down to a depth of 1090 fathoms on the 28th of 
January, and brought up, among other very interesting things, a 
large transparent Amphipod with enormous faceted eyes. The 
animal, evidently hitherto unknown, will be the type of a new 
genus, having the following characters :— 


390 Royal Society :— 


THAUMOPS, nov. gen. 


Caput oblongum, inflatum, oculis maximis superiorem capitis par- 
tem tegentibus. Segmenta thoracica 6, abdominalia5. Anten- 
narum in feminis par unum, maxillarum par unum, pedum 
paria duo minima maxillarum locum tenentia. Mandibule 
null. Pedes thoracici 5, abdominales 3 in utroque latere. 
Appendices caudales 4. Gangliorum pectoralium paria 5, 
abdominalium 3. 


Thaumops pellucida, n. sp. 
Corpus longitudine 14 mm., latitudine 21 mm., pellucidum. 


An anatomical description of this interesting animal is given, 
illustrated by two plates; and it is shown that, among the 
Amphipods known to us, Phronima is its nearest relative. But 
there are so many points in which this genus differs from Phronima, 
that it cannot form a member of the family Phronimide; and 
I therefore propose to establish for it a new family, Thaumopide, 
belonging to the tribe of Hyperina. 

The form of the head is totally different from that of Phronima ; 
the antenne are not situated near the mouth, but at its front ; 
and the enormous faceted eyes occupy its upper surface. ‘The 
first two pairs of thoracic appendages are not, as in Phronima, 
ambulatory legs, but maxillipeds, so that only five pairs of legs 
are ambulatory in Zhawmops. The thoraa is composed of six 
segments—the first of which has, on its underside, the vulva 
and one pair of maxillineds; and the second, representing two 
segments, bears two pairs of appendages, the larger maxillipeds 
and the first pair of ambulatory legs. The abdomen consists of 
five segments, with three pairs of pedes spurii, the caudal appen- 
dages being attached to the fourth and fifth segments. 

The animal being beautifully transparent, the nervous system 
could be carefully worked out without dissecting it; the position 
of the nerves going out from the cephalic ganglion, as well as 
that of the five pairs of thoracic and the three pairs of abdominal 
ganglia, could be ascertained. The eyes, having at their borders 
very peculiar appendages, were examined; and a description is 
given of the structure of the large crystalline bodies which are 
to be seen in them. Organs of hearing and touch have not been 
discovered. 

The mouth is covered by a pair of maxille and a small labium. 
There is a recurved cesophageal passage leading into a large 
cecal stomach, and an intestinal tube departing from near the end 
of the cesophagus and running.straight to the anus. 

The heart is an elongated tube extending from the second to 
the fifth segment, with probably three openings. Three pairs of 
transparent sac-like gills are attached at the base of the second, 
third, and fourth pairs of feet. 

Genital organs—The single specimen taken is a female. The 
ovary, probably composed of two ovaries, has a rose-colour ; and 


On the Distribution of the Invertebrata. 391 


the genital papilla is situated at the under part of the first 
segment ; it is covered by two small lamellw, which in this case 
did not sustain the eggs, which were found to be attached to 
the first pair of ambulatory legs. The animal seems to carry 
them in a similar manner as the pyenogonid Vymphon. 

Development.—The eggs contained embryos having already the 
antenn®, the five pairs of legs, and the abdominal feet ; they show 
that Thawmops has to undergo no metamorphosis, and that the 
young ones leave the eggs with all their appendages well de- 
veloped. 

Mode of life-—It could not be made out whether 7. pellucida 
inhabits the deep sea, or whether it is, like Phronima, a pelagic 
animal, having been caught by the trawl only as the latter came up 
from the depths. 


H.MLS. ‘Challenger,’ Teneriffe, 
February 13, 1873. 


March 20, 1873.—Mr. George Busk, Vice-President, in the Chair. 


“On the Distributioh of the Invertebrata in relation to the 
Theory of Evolution.” By Joun D. Macponatp, M.D., F.R.S., 
Staff Surgeon R.N., Assistant Professor of Naval Hygiene, Netley 
Medical School. 

All organized beings exhibit both structural and functional con- 
ditions, forming the grounds of comparison by which natural 
affinities in smaller groups, and points of difference in larger ones, 
are detected and established in systematic classification. 

General anatomical or physiological considerations in agree- 
ment are usually of more importance than the harmony of single 
or special conditions of either description; and though structural 
characters, as a rule, are superior to those of a functional nature, 
much may be learnt from an arrangement founded on physiological 
principles alone. I have elsewhere pomted out the deceptiveness 
of taking the habit of life as a guide in classification, though this 
is adopted by many zoologists ; for essentially different types may 
live under precisely similar circumstances, or the habit of life 
may be very different in the members of the same type. Thus, 
if we look upon a pectinate gill for aquatic respiration, fluviatile or 
marine, and the amphibious coincidence of this with a pulmonary 
chamber, or the presence of the latter cavity alone in purely 
terrestrial Gasteropods, as grouping characters, nothing can be 
more erroneous; for all these conditions of the respiratory system 
are to be met with in unequivocal examples of the same group, 
anatomically defined, asin the Nerite alliance, or that of Zissoa for 
example. Nevertheless animals so simple in their nature as the 
Protozoa may be distributed physiologically, with some show of 
truthfulness in the resulting scheme. 

Passing the leading types of the Protozoa in review, we notice 
that the Gregarinide alone are essentially parasitic in their 
habit of life, obtaining nutriment from materials elaborated by 


392 Royal Society :—On the Distribution of 


other animals. All the rest are therefore non-parasitic, deriving 
their sustenance from the outer world. If we now consider 
the manner in which nutritious matters are taken up and assimi- 
lated by these animals, we find that some of them must subsist 
on organic substances in solution, which are ‘absorbed by the 
general surface of the body. Moreover we observe that this 
takes place either indirectly through a more or less consistent 
investing substance, or directly through the pores, foramina, or 
fenestrations of the calcareous or siliceous capsules protecting 
the contained sarcode bodies. In other instances, on the contrary, 
solid food is actually consumed by mouthless beings, which simply 
open their bodies to receive it; and this opening of the body 
may take place at any part of the surface most convenient, or 
it may be restricted to a definite locality, shadowing forth the 
permanent mouth of the Stomatoda, or even that of the most 
primitive form of Hydrozoa. 

The annexed Table of arrangement is drawn up in accordance 
with the foregoing remarks. 


Physiological Classification of the Protozoa. 
Habit of life and mode of nutrition :—- 
ME REBENUNO Coren: anc andssiad da naakawechansuupnaiannxnase istaeceiy Gregarinide. 
II. Non-parasitic. 
A. Assuming food in a state of solution by absorption 
of the general surface. 
1. Indirectly through a medium 


a. Forming a cell-like envelope ................0266 Thalassicollide. 
6. Lining porous canals in the common mass ... Porifera. 
2. Directly through 
a. The pores or foramina of a calcareous shell .... Foraminifera. 
b. Fenestrations of a siliceous shell.................. Polycystina. 
ce. A more largely exposed surface ............s00... Acanthometride. 


B. Assuming solid food by an adventitious mouth. 
1. At any part of the surface where the contact 


ABMIIAELO ty Sect aah eeaues Auadewes caciticdeckatetioan: soos Monera, Ameba, Fe. 
2. At a definite part, determined by the opening 
GE GMOM OU soap sia daiysccem eras sirusaacehusachoneneee ae oe Gromia, Difflugia, §c. 
C. Assuming solid food by a permanent mouth, 
1. The same orifice being also excretory............... Infusoria. 
2. Discharging excreta by a rudimentary anus ...... Noctilucide. 


This Table may be said to afford us good general grounds for 
forming an estimate of the relative superiority of the several types 
thus physiologically defined, and it is mainly in keeping with 
their more commonly received distribution founded on structural 
particulars. 

A show of progressive improvement is seen in the respective 
sections A, B, and C—though to all appearance the simplest 
group of animals in existence, namely the Monera of Hickel, is 
included in the section B. These rudimentary creatures are 
destitute of both nucleus and contractile vesicle, though exhibiting 
activities in movement, taking food, and reproducing their kind, 
not even second to those of Ameba and its allies. The smallest 
ciliated molecule endowed with animal life could not present a 


the Invertebrata in relation to Evolution. 393 


more simple structure than that of the perfectly homogeneous 
and jelly-like Monera. Indeed the evolution of any of the other 
primitive forms from a plastic source like this is quite conceivable, 
though of course we have no actual means of observing such a 
transmutation. 

Moreover the development of amceboids in some part of the 
life-history of most Protozoa would appear to stamp that form 
as the earliest genetic type of beings. With the exception of a 
nucleus and a contractile vesicle, Ameba itself may have sprung 
from Protameba; and the finally encysted jelly-globules of Proto- 
myea and Mywastrum breaking up into naked ameeboids, or 
pseudonavicelle liberating them, very strikingly suggest the source 
from which the Gregarine may have been evolved. 

The ‘valuable researches of Mr. Archer, of Dublin, have brought 
to light many very interesting freshwater Protozoa, thus much 
augmenting our materials for comparison, and adding new zest to 
inquiry as to their natural affinities or their probable origin and 
derivatives. 

If evolutionary forces are admitted to be in constant opera- 
tion, it would be hard to say that any two existing forms should 
stand to each other in the relation of source and product. It 
would perhaps be safer to say that existing forms have taken 
their origin from swch forms as are still in existence; for as it 
is but reasonable to suppose that in the lapse of time all the 
members of the primary type must have undergone some change, 
the persistence of that type through all in its primitive state is 
difficult to conceive, though, for any thing we yet know, this may 
be the case. 

Without indulging in this theme further, if we now seek for 
the most probable derivatives of definite types of Protozoa, some 
remarkable facts strike us, first, in relation to the Cestoid worms, 
as bearing upon their possible derivation from the Gregarinide. 
I have already noticed the affinity of the Gregarinidans them- 
selves to Protomyxa and Myxastrum amongst the Monera; but 
when we find the hooklets of Tenia and the sucker-pits of Tenia 
and Bothriocephalus shadowed forth in Hoplorhynchus and Actino- 
cephalus respectively, we can scarcely help acknowledging the 
alliance here indicated. Inthe Gregarinide, moreover, there is not 
only a distinct external integument, but Van Beneden has lately 
demonstrated the existence of circular muscular fibres on its 
inner surface; a similar habit of life in both cases is also very 
significant. Nor would it be inconsistent to regard the Trematoda 
and Nematoidea as further developments of the same series of 
essentially internal parasites. 

Now, although the Thalassicollide are not parasites, the genus 
Thalassicolla and the Gregarine alone of all the simple Protozoa 
take up their nutriment in solution, after the manner of the com- 
pound forms, namely the Porifera, restricted Polycystina, and 
Foraminifera. This fact, I think, is significant, as suggesting the 
derivation of Gregarina from some such original as Thalassicolla, 


394 Royal Society :—On the Distribution of 


as it does not seem natural to suppose that the former, which is 
so essentially an Entozoon, could have been descended from a stock 
capable of assuming solid food in the outer world. 

Dr. Carpenter unconsciously gives us the weight of his opinion 
in the following quotations from his valuable work on the mi- 
croscope. On page 449 he says, speaking of Spherozoum, 
‘Towards the inner surface of this (the outer) coat are scattered a 
great number of oval bodies resembling cells, having a tolerably 
distinct membraniform wall and a conspicuous round central 
nucleus, thus corresponding closely with the Gregarina type.” 
I might mention in passing that, having frequently taken in 
the towing-net the unequivocal allies of Dictyocha with sarcode 
bodies identical with those of Spherozowm, I have no hesitation 
inassuming Dictyocha itself to belong rather to the Thalassicollidee 
than to the group with which it is more usually associated. 
This family is commonly included under the head of Rhizopoda ; 
and there can be no doubt that the generalization, irrespective 
of that term, is a correct one; but it is a stretch of transcendental 
anatomy to speak of the existence of pseudopodia in any member 
of it. The radiating branched filaments within the dense external 
investment of Thalassicolla nucleata are not extensions of the sar- 
code body, like those of Gromia for example, but apparently act as 
retinacula, and as conduits for dialytic currents, which may account 
for the phenomenon of cyclosis observed in some instances. 

Professor James-Clark, of Pennsylvania, appears to have satisfied 
himself, at least, that there is a remarkable agreement of characters 
exhibited between the Porifera and the Infusoria, which are 
connected, as he endeavours to show, by a regular gradation of 
animals. The derivation of the latter group of Protozoa from 
the former, which I had myself assumed quite independently, is 
therefore supported by that gentleman’s researches. 

Even with our present advanced knowledge of the Infusoria 
it is doubtful if we do not still include amongst them the larve of 
Turbellaria ; and, indeed, the passage from the one type to the 
other would appear to be natural and easy. On the other hand, 
tracing through such forms as Nemertes, Bonellia, and Priapulus, 
Sipunculus will lead directly to the less-equivocal Echinodermata ; 
and here the series must wind up; for further evolution, though 
perhaps possible, does not appear to have taken place. 

The existence of such low or simple forms of Rotifera as the 
genus Asplanchna, for example, would be favourable to the idea 
that the Noctilucide might have been the progenitors of that order 
of beings. It is of course quite gratuitous, but convenient, at 
present to assume that the Noctilucide would thus hold the same 
relationship to the Polycystina that the Infusoria appear to do to 
the Porifera. However this may be, it is more certain that the 
Rotifera are at the root of the annulose and articulate series. 

From the Rotifera, through the Annelida, we may thus trace 
the development of the crustaceous and chitinous types of Arti- 
culata like a dichotomous branch. 


the Invertebrata in relation to Evolution. 395 


The Annelida may be linked with the Crustacea by means 
of the Sagittidee, whose exquisitely striped muscular fibres accord 
to them a higher position than the other parts of their organization 
would perhaps warrant them to take. 

There is obviously a representative relationship between the 
crustaceous Macrura, Anomura, and Brachyura and the chitinous 
Myriopoda, Insecta, and Arachnida. 

The earthworms and the leeches may help to fill up the gap 
between the Chetopod Annelida and the Myriopoda (as, for 
example, between the genera Geophilus and Nereis), though it must 
be confessed that the existing links are inadequate, or they have 
never been sufficiently made out. 

The first rudiments of a tracheal system are probably to be sought 
for in the Terricolous Annelida, though true articulated limbs and 
a dorsal heart seem to make their first appearance in the Iulide. 

Should the simplest hydroid polyps have sprung from such 
Protozoa as Difflugia, Arcella, or Astrorhiza, with their pseudopodial 
tentacula encircling a fixed oral point, the existence of a living 
series from the lowest*type of animals to that which is obviously 
on the confines of the Vertebrata would be clearly demonstrable *. 
Furthermore, as the interpolation of any other invertebrate types 
would disturb the harmony here, the inference is natural that they 
also might be distributed in a similar way into as many groups or 
series as their affinities or antipathies would suggest or necessitate. 

Having studied this subject very carefully, it appears to me 
that the whole of the Invertebrata admit of distribution into four 
distinct series, corresponding with the number of sections of the 
Protozoa, from which all the other types may have taken their 
origin. Thus, on dividing the Astomatous Protozoa into com- 
pound types and their allied simple forms, we obtain the follow- 
ing highly suggestive arrangement, in which the groups represent 
each other so remarkably that they would seem to be quite natural. 


* The annexed Table exhibits the progressive modification of the alimentary 
system in ascending from the Hydrozoa to the Tunicata :— 


Evolution of the Alimentary Canal in particular. 


( With primary hzmal 
and final neural | Ascidiozoa. 
HOXULO ests venacecenc 
With simple Sey tae 
and Polyzoa, 


Intestine insulated from 
Mo.uvscompA the somatic cavity ... 


the SOMALIC CAVIGY te.....5c0c2 20st onessovceresasens } Mac 


Intestine not yet developed; stomach commu- 
‘pp hl | nicating with the somatic cavity ........sesee0 
CELENTERATA ) Tue stomach not yet developed, its office being | 77, 7,204 
l answered by the somatic cavity .............+. } ‘eet He 


} Actinozoa. 


Additional matter in the above connexion will be found in a paper by the 
author “On the Morphological Relationships of the Molluscoida and Celen- 
terata,” published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. 
xxili. part 3, 1864. 


396 Royal Society. 


I have appended the Stomatoda and the twelve remaining sections 
of the Invertebrata in the order indicated by their affinities. 


Scheme of Classification of Invertebrata. 
Leading Types of Protozoa, jac or compound. 


2. 4. 
Collosphera. Porifera. Tee ee Foraminifera. 
Corresponding simple forms. 
Thalassicolla. Actinophrys. Acanthometra, | Ameeba. 
Gregarina. Gromia. Podocyrtis. Difflugia. 
Derivative types. 

Cestoidea. Infusoria. Noctilucide. Ceelenterata. 
Trematoda. Turbellaria. Rotifera. Molluscoida. 
Nematoidea. Sipunculide. Annelida. Mollusca. 


Echinodermata. Articulata. 


So as not to complicate the Table, I thought it better to sup- 
plement it with the definition of the four leading types of compound 
Protozoa. 

1. In the Collosphera type, the sarcode bodies lie at some 
distance apart and are always distinct. 

2. In the Porifera type the sarcode bodies are closely approxi- 
mated or confluent. 

3. In the Polycystina type the sarcode bodies are concentric and 
connected by radiating stolons. 

4. In the Foraminifera type the sarcode bodies are connected 
by stolons in linear series or some order of juxtaposition. 

If it is incumbent upon the developmental hypothesis to derive 
the Vertebrata from the preexisting Invertebrata, the only line 
through which it would be possible to trace their descent is that 
leading from the Protozoa to the Mollusca proper, or the fourth 
series of the Table. It would also appear that the Entozoa, 
Echinodermata, and Articulata appertain severally to separate 
series of their own; and whatever may happen by-and-by, it 
would be difficult to find, in the present fauna of the globe, a single 
form clearly deducible from any of them. 

The habit of life of the Entozoon, the peculiarity of structure 
of the Echinoderm, and the very perfection of organization of the 
Articulata, as it were, preclude their evolution into any other 
existing type. T'o use a common phrase, they may be said to lead 
nowhere, though they may be easily and, I think, consistently traced 
back to their possible origin in the Protozoa. 

It would be great presumption to say that even an approach to 
perfection had been attained in this attempted classification of 
a whole subkingdom of animals. Nevertheless, in the preceding 
Table, the relationships existing amongst the members of that sub- 
kingdom are presented to the eye at a single glance, and in a 
manner that would be quite unattainable by systems maintaining 
the original creation of every so-called species, and that in an 
order perhaps more easily described than understood. 


Miscellaneous. 397 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Preliminary Notice of some Extinct Tortoises from the Islands of 
Rodriquez and Mauritius. By Dr. Atserr Ginter, F.R.S. 


Some time ago M. L. Bouton, of Port Louis, sent me for examination 
some Chelonian remains from Rodriguez and the Mauritius, and 
more especially, among those from the latter island, a nearly com- 
plete carapace. This collection has been supplemented by a series 
of bones in the Geological Department of the British Museum, which 
were discovered at the same time and at the same place with the 
skeleton of Didus ineptus. 

As some time must elapse before the plates illustrating my 
description can be finished, I think it advisable to indicate the main 
results of my examination. 

All these tortoises belong to a group of gigantic land-tortoises, 
characterized by a flat skull (type Testudo platyceps of Gray), and 
by a dilated (not vertically compressed) symphysial bridge between 
the foramina obturatoria. 

The Rodriguez species is distinguished by very slender vertebra 
and leg-bones, and by having the neural arch of the sixth cervical 
vertebra perforated by a pair of large foramina. This species I have 
named 7’. rodericensis. 

Among the remains from the Mauritius two species can be readily 
distinguished :— 

One appears to have been the more common; it has three serrated 
dental ridges along the lower jaw, a peculiarity hitherto unknown 
among recent land-tortoises: for this species I prepose the name 
Testudo triserrata. 

The other is more sparingly represented, and distinguished by 
various modifications in the form of the bones of all the limbs. I 
distinguish it by the name Testudo inepta. 


On the Dorsal Shield of Tolypeutes. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S, &e. 


In the ‘Catalogue of Carnivorous and Edentate Mammalia (Bruta, 
Linneus) in the British Museum,’ p. 385, I formed these animals 
into a family (Tolypeutide), from the manner in which they walk, 
and on account of the dorsal disk being partially free from the back 
of the body; but only being able to examine a living specimen, 
which I was afraid of injuring, I believed that the disk was attached 
to the middle of the back, which is found not to be the case when 
one can examine more carefully a specimen preserved in spirits. 

Mr. Edward Gerrard, Jun., has sold two specimens of the 
Mataco (Tolypeutes conwrus) to the British Museum, which had been 
preserved in spirits; and he has pointed out to me that these speci- 
mens show that the dorsal disk of these animals is quite free from 
the body of the animal, except in three places—(Ist) at the front end 
round the neck, (2nd) on the sides at the margin inside the three 
median dorsal rings, and (3rd) over the pelvis and round the caudal 


398 Miscellaneous. 


end of the shield ; so that, in fact, it is even more free than in Chla- 
mydophorus. 

In these places it is united by an extension of the skin of the body, 
which from these parts extends over the whole internal surface of 
the disk. The whole outer surface of the bony disk is also covered 
by a very thin skin, which is visible and easily rubs off the animal 
that has been preserved in spirit. 

The male and female are very like one another in external ap- 
pearance ; but the penis of the male is very large, and fusiform. 


Observations on the Structure of the Proboscis of an Hermaphrodite 
Nemertian from the Marseilles Coast. By M. HK, Zevurr. 


M. Marion has described, under the name of Borlasia Kefersteint, 
a curious Nemertian, the examination of which proves with certainty 
the occasional hermaphrodism of the Turbellaria of this group. The 
importance of this anatomical fact leads me to present to the Academy 
the results of some investigations made in the laboratory of the 
“ Keole pratique des Hautes Etudes” of Marseilles, under the direction 
of M. Marion, in consequence of which it has been ascertained that 
the Borlasia parasitic upon Phallusia mamillata, so frequent in the 
gulf, must be united with B. Kefersteinii, with which it presents the 
same sexual organization. It will therefore in future be easy to 
meet with this species, which always exists in great abundance on 
the branchial tissue of the Ascidia. The anatomical examination of 
more than sixty individuals has revealed to me some peculiarities, 
often not very observable, in the structure and functions of the 
proboscis. 

The greatly developed proboscis extends in the dorsal region of 
the animal from the ganglia to the anus, where it is recurved so as 
to attach itself to the walls of the general cavity. I have distinguished 
five parts, namely :—1, a protractile region: 2, a bulb of the style ; 
3, a poison-sac; 4, a glandular region ; and 5, a muscular region. 

The walls of the first four parts of this organ are formed by longi- 
tudinal and transverse muscles; the muscular region seems to be 
formed entirely by longitudinal muscles. 

The protractile region is equal to about one third of the total 
length of the proboscis; it passes between the commissures of the 
cerebral ganglia, is reflexed, and fixed by its terminal portion to the 
membrane which covers these ganglia. On its muscular envelope 
we may distinguish a transparent homogeneous layer, roughened 
with pretty thick papilla, resembling more or less elongated mamille, 
upon which I have not observed any vibratile cilia. 

Behind this region is placed the bulb of the style, of a more or . 
less rounded form, in the centre of which is arranged the apparatus 
of attack. The point, which is much drawn out, penetrates by a 
swall aperture into the inferior portion of the protractile part. It is 
fixed at its base in a sort of ring or ridge which surmounts the haft. 
The mass of the haft appears to be granular and brownish. 

The style does not float freely in the centre of the bulb. It is 


Miscellaneous. 399 


placed in a sac having the form of two truncated cones one above 
the other; that in which the haft plays rises nearly to the height 
of the ring. The margins of this sac appear to be attached to the 
haft by muscles destined to facilitate the movements of the style. 

On the two sides of the upper region of the bulb are the styligenous 
pouches, three in number. These are ovoid cavities, two of which 
are placed horizontally on each side of the base of the haft, with 
ducts which, starting from the extremity near the base of the style, 
are directed towards its point. (I have not been able to determine 
exactly where these ducts open.) The third was on the right, and 
placed vertically. Most frequently they contain three darts; but in 
many individuals I have found four and even five, surrounded by 
their basal ring and arranged symmetrically in accordance with the 
longer axis of the pouches. 

I have several times observed in these pouches, as Claparéde had 
done in 1869 in Tetrastemma varicolor, the presence of a transparent 
vesicle ; sometimes also I have seen this vesicle containing a dart 
in course of formation, as has been indicated in other species by 
Claparéde, Schultze, and Keferstein. 

In all these Nemertians I have detected above the styliferous 
apparatus a more or less blackish layer, which is no doubt a secretory 
apparatus. In those individuals in which the style was in process 
of formation this layer appeared to me to be thicker; it entirely 
enveloped the styligenous pouches. The mass which separates these 
pouches from the enveloping muscles is formed by fine pigment- 
granules. 

The poison-sac follows the bulb of the style. It is rounded, and 
the muscular layer which envelops it is much thicker than in the 
other parts of the proboscis ; it keeps in reserve the liquid produced 
by the glandular region. From this sac a duct starts, which traverses 
the bulb and opens near the point of the style. 

Last comes the glandular region, which terminates the muscular 
region, and the interior of which is filled with numerous vesicles 
containing little granular drops of an oily appearance, penetrating 
into the poison-sac in proportion as the latter is projected out of the 
animal. J have always seen this part of the proboscis occupied by 
these vesicles, just as the poison-sac was filled with the liquid which 
has to flow from it. 

When the animal has to project its proboscis we see the muscular 
region take on a vermicular movement, which is communicated to 
the glandular region, and carries with it the liquid of the general 
cavity, which collects in front of the cephalic lobes and compels the 
anterior part of the proboscis to fold like the finger of a glove and 
penetrate into the canal which separates it from the orifice of issue, 
The canal, formed of very powerful muscles, plays an important part 
in the projection of the proboscis. The protractile region penetrates 
into it with difficulty ; but as soon as a part of it projects under the 
influence of the liquids accumulated in the cul-de-sac, we see it issue 
with very great rapidity, in consequence of the pressure of these 
muscles upon the part which is still in the interior. 


400 Miscellaneous. 


The repeated movements of the inferior region of the proboscis 
quickly produce such a pressure in the anterior part that it is soon 
projected. Compressed at the same moment by the muscles of the 
canal just mentioned, the bulb becomes terminal ;,and we notice the 
jerking-movements of the style at the same time that a granular 
liquid flows through an aperture situated near its point. 

The movements which act in the projection of the proboscis serve 
equally to accumulate the liquid of the glandular region at the 
entrance of the poison-sac. The muscles which surround this sac 
contract in such a way that the anterior region seems to approach 
the posterior region. The same mechanism is produced in the bulb. 
It is this combination of movements that causes the issue of the 
point of the style at the same time as the flow of poison. As soon 
as the poison-sac has allowed a certain quantity of liquid to escape, 
this is immediately replaced by that contained in the glandular 
region. 

The return of the proboscis is effected by the inverse contraction 
of the muscles of the canal and protractile region. These observa- 
tions justify us in regarding the muscular region as the principal 
motor of the proboscis.—Comptes Rendus, April 14, 1873, tome 
Ixxvi. pp. 966-969. 


French Measures. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


French measure is being used by several scientifie writers, being 
chiefly introduced by translators of French elementary books, 
who are too idle to reducethe French to the relative English measures; 
for there can be no doubt of the greater convenience of the English 
foot, inch, and line, being adapted to the different sizes of the things 
wished to be measured. Few people but can tell you what is a 
foot and what is an inch, and give a close approximation to the size 
in feet and inches of any thing you show to them ; but I have never 
found a person using a French measure who could tell you the size 
of 190 millimetres, though he could tell what was the length of 74 
inches, which is within a very little of the same thing. 

It may be of some advantage to give such persons an idea of a 
size mentioned to be informed that a decimetre, or 100 millimetres, 
is about the usual length of a man’s fore finger, from the tip of the 
nail to the back of the knuckle when the finger is bent down, and 
that the first joint of the finger when bent down is as nearly as 
possible 25 millimetres, or a fourth part. 

I challenged a well-known physiologist who has long used 
French measure to give me his idea of the measure of certain things 
lying before him ; and he declined to guess, and was surprised at the 
accuracy with which I could guess them by this simple means. The 
decimetre is as nearly as possible 4 inches, which is the usual length 
of the fore finger ; and the first joint, as nearly as possible a quarter 
the length of the fore finger, an inch or 25 millimetres long. 


THE ANNALS 


MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
[FOURTH SERIES. ] 


No. 66. JUNE 1873. 


XLV.—On the Advantage of a Dominant Lanquage for Science. 
By ALPHONSE DE CANDOLLE, Corresponding Member of the 
Académie des Sciences, Foreign Member of the Royal and 
Linnean Societies, &c.* 


AT the period of the Renaissance Latin was the language 
employed by all the learned men of Europe. It had been 
carefully preserved by the Romish Church; and not one of the 
modern languages presented, at that time, a sufficiently rich 
literature to become its rival. But at a later period the Refor- 
mation disturbed the unity of the Romish influence. Italian, 
Spanish, French, and English gained successively regular 
idioms, and became rich in literary productions of every kind ; 
and at last, 80 or 100 years ago at most, the progress of science 
caused the inconvenience of the use of Latin to be felt. It 
was a dead language, and, in addition to that, was wanting in 
clearness, owing to its inversions, to its abbreviated words, and 
to the absence of articles. There existed at that time a general 
desire to describe the numerous discoveries that were being 
made, and to explain and discuss them without the necessity 
of seeking for words. The almost universal pressure of these 
causes was the reason for the adoption of modern languages in 
most sciences, natural history being the only exception: for 
this Latin is still employed, but only in descriptions—a special 
and technical part, where the number of words is limited and 


* The fifth chapter of the ‘ Histoire des Sciences et des Savants depuis 
deux siécles,’ 8vo, Genéve, 1873: London, Dulau. Translated by Miss 
Miers, by permission of the author. 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 26 


402 M. A. de Candolle on the Advantage 


the construction very regular. Speaking truly, what natura? 
lists have preserved is the Latin of Linneus, a language in 
which every word is precise in meaning, every sentence 
arranged logically, clearly, and in a way employed by no 
Roman author. Linneus was not a linguist: he knew but 
little even of modern languages; and it is evident that he 
struggled against many difficulties when he wrote in Latin. 
With a very limited vocabulary and a turn of mind which 
revolted equally from the periods of Cicero and the reticence 
of Tacitus, he knew how to create a language precise in its 
terms, appropriate to the description of forms, and intelligible 
to students. He never made use of a term without first 
defining it. ‘To renounce this special language of the learned 
Swede would be to render descriptions less clear and less 
accessible to the savans of all nations. If we attempt to 
translate into the Latin of Linneeus certain sentences in modern 
Floras, written in English or German, we quickly perceive a 
want of clearness. In English the word smooth applies equally 
to glaber and levis*. In German the construction of sentences 
indicating generic or other characters is sometimes so obscure 
that I have found it impossible, in certain cases, to have them 
put into Latin by a German, a good botanist, who was better 
acquainted than myself with both languages. It would be still 
worse if authors had not introduced many words, purely Latin, 
into their language. But, exclusive of paragraphs relative to 
characters, and wherever successive phenomena or theories are 
in question, the superiority of modern languages is unquestion- 
able; it is on this account that, even in natural history, Latin 
is every day less employed. 

The loss, however, of the link formerly established between 
scientific men of all countries has made itself felt. From this 
has arisen a very chimerical proposal to form some artificial 
language, which should be to all nations what writing is to 
the Chinese. It was to be based on ideas, not words. ‘The 
problem has remained quite devoid of solution ; and even were 
it possible, it would be so complicated an affair, so impracti- 
cable and inflexible, that it would quickly drop into disuse. 

The wants and the circumstances of each epoch have brought 
about a preference for one or other of the principal HKuropean 
languages as a means of communication between enlightened 
men of all countries. French rendered this service during 
two centuries. At present various causes have modified the 


[* The word glaber in botany means bald, or not hairy, which is applied 
to other parts as well as the head; and /evis smooth, not rough; but I 
know they have both been carelessly translated ‘‘smooth,’ as M. de 
Candolle implies.—J. E. G.] 


of a Dominant Language for Science. 403 


use of this language in other countries, and the habit has been 
almost everywhere introduced that each nation should employ 
its own tongue.» We have therefore entered upon a period of 
confusion. What is thought to be new in one country is not 
so to those who read books in other languages. It is vain to 
study living languages more and more ; you are always behind- 
hand in the complete knowledge of what is being published in 
other countries. Few persons are acquainted with more than 
two languages ; and if we try to pass beyond a certain limit in 
this respect, we rob ourselves of time for other things; for 
there is a point at which the study of the means of knowledge 
hinders our learning. Polyglott discussions and conversations 
do not.answer the intentions of those who attempt them. I 
am persuaded that the inconvenience of such a state of things 
will be more and more felt. I also believe, judging by the 
example of Greek as used by the Romans, and French in 
modern times, that the need of a prevailing language is almost 
always recognized ; it's returned to from necessity after each 
period of anarchy. To understand this we must consider the 
causes which make a language preferable, and those which 
spread its employment in spite of any defects it may possess. 

Thus in the 17th and 18th centuries motives existed for the 
employment of French in preference to Latin throughout 
Europe. It was a language spoken by the greater part of the 
educated men of the period, a language tolerably simple and 
very clear. It had an advantage in its resemblance to Latin, 
which was then widely known. An Englishman, a German, 
was already half acquainted with French through his know- 
ledge of Latin; a Spaniard, an Italian, was three parts 
advanced in his study of the language. If a discussion were 
sustained in French, if books were written or translations made 
in the language, all the world understood. 

In the present century civilization has much extended north 
of France, and population has increased there more than to 
the south. The use of the English tongue has been doubled 
by its extension into America. The sciences are more and more 
cultivated in Germany, in England, in the Scandinavian 
countries, and Russia. The scientific centre of gravity has 
advanced from the south towards the north. 

Under the influence of these new conditions a language can 
only become predominant by presenting two characters: 1st, it 
must possess sufficient German and Latin words or forms to 
be within reach at once of the Germans and of the people who 
make use of Latin tongues ; 2nd, it must be spoken by a con- 
siderable majority of civilized people. In addition to these 


two essential conditions it would be well for the definitive 
26* 


404 M. A. de Candolle on the Advantage 


success of a language that it should also possess the qualities 
of grammatical simplicity, of conciseness, and clearness. 

English is the only language which may, in fiity or a hun- 
dred years, offer all these conditions united. 

The language i is half German and half Latin. It possesses 
German words, German forms, and also French words and a 
French method of constructing sentences. It is a transition 
between the principal languages used at present in science, as 
French was formerly between Latin and several of the modern 
languages. 

The future extension of the Anglo-American tongue is evi- 
dent. It will be rendered inevitable by the movement of the 
populations in the two hemispheres. Here is the proof, which 
it is easy to give in a few words and a few figures. 

At the present the population stands ‘thus (Almanach 
de Gotha, 1871) * 

English- Sarit + peoples—in England 31 millions, in the 
United States 40, in Canada &c. 4, in Australia and New 
Zealand 2: total 77. 

German-speaking peoples—in Germany and a portion of 
Austria 60, in Switzerland (German cantons) 2: total 62. 

French- -speaking peoples—in France 364, in Belgium 
(French portion) 24, in Switzerland (French cantons) 3, in 
Algeria and the Colonies 1: total 404. 

Now, judging by the increase that has taken place in the 
present century, we mey, estimate the probable growth of 
population as follow 


a=. 


millions. 
In England it doubles in 50 years; therefore in a ae) 
(in 1S C0) i 9G) 0 aml . 124 


In the United States, in Canada, in Anstralia’ it avahles 
in 25; therefore it willbe |. ssh sped es Maes 


Probable total of the English-speaking race in 1970 . 860 


In Germany the northern population doubles in 56 to 60 
years, that of the south in 167 years. Let us suppose 
100 years for the average. It will probably be in 
1970, for the countries of German speech, about . 124 


In the Ramat -speaking countries the population doubles 
in about 140 years. In 1970, therefore, it will pro- 
bably amountite 1g «ie 6). ty 2) Se. +s GOD 


[* No notice is here taken of the English-speaking people in India and 
the East.—J. E. G.] 
+ Almanach de Gotha, 1870, p. 1039. 


of a Dominant Language for Science. 405 


Thus the three principal languagés spoken at the present 
time will be spoken a century hence with the following 
progression :— 


millions. 
The English tongue will have increased from 77 to 860 
The German 5 ‘ from 62 to 124 
The French - 5 from 404 to 694 


The individuals speaking German will form a seventh 
part, and those speaking French a twelfth or thirteenth part 
of those of English tongue; and both together will not form 
a quarter of the individuals speaking English. The German 
or French countries will then stand towards those of English 
speech as Holland or Sweden do at present with regard to 
themselves. I am far from having exaggerated the growth 
of the Anglo-Australian-American populations. Judging by 
the surface of the countries they occupy, they will long continue 
to multiply in large proportion. The English language is, 
besides, more diffused than any other throughout Atrica and 
Southern Asia. America and Australia are not, I confess, 
countries in which the culture of letters and sciences is so 
much advanced as in Europe; and it is probable that, for a 
length of time, agriculture, commerce, and industry will absorb 
all the most active energies. I acknowledge this. But it is 
no less a fact that so considerable a mass of intelligent and 
educated men will weigh decisively on the world in general. 
These new peoples, English in origin, are mingled with a 
German element, which, in regard to intellectual inclinations, 


g 
counterbalances the Irish. They have generally a great 


fo} 
eagerness for learning and for the application of discoveries. 
They read much. Works written in English or translated into 
that tongue would, in a vast population, have a very large 
sale. This would be an encouragement for authors and trans- 
lators that is offered by neither the French nor the German 
language. We know in Europe to what degree difficulties 
exist im the publication of books on serious subjects ; but open 
an immense mart to publishers, and works on the most special 
subjects will have a sale. When translations are read by 
ten times as many people as at present, it is evident that a 
greater number of books will be translated ; and this will con- 
tribute in no small degree towards the preponderance of the 
English language. Many French people already buy English 
translations of German books, just as Italians buy translations 
in French. If English or American publishers would adopt 
the idea of having translations made into their janguage of the 
best works that appear in Russian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, 


406 M. A. de Candolle on the Advantage 


&e., they would satisfy a public dispersed over the whole 
world, and particularly the numerous Germans who understand 
English. Yet we are but at the beginning of the numerical 
preponderance of the English-speaking populations. 

The nature of a language does not, at first sight, appear to 
have very great influence on its diffusion. French was pre- 
ferred for two centuries; and yet Italian was quite as clear, 
more elegant, more harmonious, had more affinity with Latin, 
and, for a length of time, had possessed a remarkable literature. 
The number, the activity of the French, and the geographical 
position of their country were the causes of their preponderance. 
Yet the qualities of a language, especially those preferred by 
the moderns, are not without their influence. At the present 
time briefness, clearness, grammatical simplicity are admired. 
Nations, at least those of our Indo-European race, began by 
speaking in an obscure complicated manner; in advancing they 
have simplified and made their language more precise. Sanscrit 
and Basque, two very ancient languages, are exceedingly 
complicated. Greek and Latin are so in less degree. The 
languages derived from Latin are clothed in clearer and simpler 
forms. I do not know how philosophers explain the pheno- 
menon of the complication of language at an ancient period ; 
but it is unquestionable. It is more easy to understand the 
subsequent simplifications. When a more easy and convenient 
method of acting or speaking has been arrived at, it is natu- 
rally preferred. Besides, civilization encourages individual 
activity ; and this necessitates short words and short sentences. 
The progress of the sciences, the frequent contact of persons 
speaking different languages, and who find a difficulty in 
understanding each other, lead to a more and more imperious 
need for clearness. You must have received a classical edu- 
cation to avoid the perception of absurdity in the construction 
of an ode of Horace. ‘Translate it literally to an uneducated 
workman, keeping each word in its place, and it will have to 
him the effect of a building the entrance-door of which is on 
the third story. It is no longer a possible language, even in 
poetry. 

Modern languages have not all, to the same degree, the 
advantages now demanded, of clearness, simplicity, and 
briefness. 

The French language has shorter words and less complicated 
verbs than the Italian: this, in all probability, has contributed 
to its success. The German has not undergone the modern 
evolution by which each sentence or portion of a sentence 
begins with the principal word. Words are also cut in two 
and the fragments dispersed. It has three genders, whereas 


of a Dominant Language for Science. 407 


French and Italian have but two. The conjugations of many 
verbs are rather complicated. Nevertheless modern tendencies 
weigh with the Germans, and it is evident that their language 
is becoming a little modified. Scientific authors especially 
exert themselves to attempt the direct modes of expression and 
the short phrases of other countries, in the same way that they 
have abandoned the Gothic printed letters. Should they 
correspond with strangers, they often have the politeness to 
write in Latin characters. They willingly intreenee in their 
publications terms taken from foreign languages, modifications 
sometimes merely of form, occasionally fundamental. These 
attest the modern spirit and the enlightened judgment of the 
learned men so numerous in Germany. Unhappily the modi- 
fications of form have no great importance, and the fundamental 
changes take place very slowly. 

The more practical English language shortens sentences and 
words. It willingly takes possession of foreign words, as 
German does ; but of eabriolet it makes cab, of memorandum it 
makes mem. It makes use only of indispensable and natural 
tenses—the present, the past, the future, and the conditional. 
There is no arbitrary distinction of genders : animated objects 
are masculine or feminine ; the others are neuter. The ordi- 
nary construction is so sure to begin with the principal idea 
that in conversation you may often dispense with the necessity 
of tinishing your sentences. The chief fault of the English 
language, its inferiority in comparison with German or Italian, 
consists in an orthography absolutely irregular, and so absurd 
that children take a whole year in learning to read*. The 
pronunciation is not well articulated, not well defined. I 
shall not go as far as Madame Sand in her amusing impreca- 
tions on this point ; but there is truth im what she says. The 
vowels are not distinct enough. But, in spite of these faults, 
English, according to the same clever writer, is a well-ex- 
pressed language, quite as clear as any other, at least when 
English people choose to revise their MSS., which they will 
not always do; they are in such a hurry! 

English terms are adapted to modern wants. Do you wish 
to hail a vessel, to ery “stop” to a train, to explain a machine, 
to demonstrate an experiment in physics, to speak in few words 
to busy and practical people, it is the language par excellence. 
In comparison with Italian, with French, and, above all, with 


* Surprised, on one occasion, by the slowness with which intelligent 
English children learnt reading, I inquired the reason. Lach letter has 
several sounds, or you may say that each sound is written in several ways. 
It is therefore necessary to learn reading word for word. It is an affair 
of memory. 


408 M. A. de Candolle on the Advantage 


German, English has the effect, to those who speak several 
languages, ot offering the shortest cut from one point to an- 
other. I have observed this in families where two languages 
are equally well known, which often occurs in Switzerland. 
When the two languages are German and French, the latter 
almost always carries the day. “‘ Why?” Lasked of a German 
Swiss established in Geneva. “JI can scarcely tell you,’ he 
replied ; “at home we speak German to exercise my son in the 
language; but he always falls back into the French of his 
comrades. French is shorter, more convenient.” Before the 
events of 1870, a great Alsatian manufacturer sent his.son to 
study at Zurich. I was curious to know the reason why. 
‘“‘ We cannot,” he said, ‘induce our children to speak Ger- 
man, with which they are quite as familiar as with French. 
I have sent my son to a town where nothing but German is 
spoken, in order that he may be forced to speak it.” In such 
preferences you must not look for the causes i sentiment or 
fancy. When a man has choice of two roads, one straight 
and open, the other crooked and difficult to find, he is sure to 
take, almost without reflection, the shorter and more convenient 
one. I have also observed families where the two languages 
known in the same degree were English and French. In this 
ease the English maintained supremacy, even in a French- 
speaking land. It is handed down from one generation to 
another ; it is employed by those who are in haste, or who want 
to say something in as few words as possible. The tenacity of 
French or English families established in Germany in speaking 
their own language, and the rapid disappearance of German in 
the German families established in French or Englishcountries, 
may be explained by the nature of the languages rather than 
by the influence of fashion or education. 

The general rule is this :—In the conflict of two languages, 
every thing else being equal, it is the most concise and the 
most simple that conquers. French beats Italian and Ger- 
man; English beats the other languages. In short, it need 
only be said that the more simple a language is, the more easy 
it is to be learnt, and the more quickly can it be made avail- 
able for profitable employment. 

The English language has another advantage in family use : 
its literature is the one most suitable to feminine tastes; and 
every one knows how great is the influence of mothers on the 
language of children. Not only do they teach what is called 
‘the mother tongue,” but often, when well educated, they feel 
pleasure in speaking a foreign language to their children. 
They do so gaily, gracefully. The young lad who finds his 


of a Dominant Language for Science. 409. 


language-master heavy, his grammar tiresome, thinks very 
differently when his mother, his sister, or his sister’s friend 
addresses herself to him in some foreign tongue. This will 
often be English—and for the best of reasons: there is no 
language so rich in works (written in a spirit of true morality) 
upon subjects which are interesting to women—religion, educa- 
tion, fiction, biography, poetry, &e. 

The future preponderance of the language spoken by Eng- 
lish, Australians, and Americans thus appears to me assured. 
The force of circumstances leads to this result; and the nature 
of the language itself must accelerate the movement. 

The nations who speak the English tongue are thus bur- 
thened with a responsibility which it is well they should recog- 
nize at once. It is a moral responsibility towards the civilized 
world of the coming centuries. 

Their duty, as it is also their interest, is to maintain the 
present unity of the language, at the same time admitting the 
necessary or convenient modifications which may arise under 
the influence of eminent writers, or be arranged by common 
consent. The danger to be feared is that the English lan- 
guage may, before another century has passed, be broken up 
into three languages, which would be in the same relation to 
each other as are Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, or as 
Swedish and Danish. 

Some English authors have a mania for making new 
words. Dickens has invented several. Yet the English lan- 
guage already possesses many more words than French, and 
the history of its literature shows that there is greater need to 
suppress than to add to the vocabulary. No writer for three 
centuries past has employed nearly so many different words as 
Shakspeare; therefore there must have been many unneces- 
sary ones. Probably every idea and every object had formerly 
a term of Saxon origin and one of Latin or French origin, 
without counting Celtic or Danish words. The very legical 
operation of time has been to suppress the double or triple 
words. Why reestablish them? A people so economical in 
its use of words does not require more than one term for each 
thing*. 

The Americans, on the other hand, make innovations of accent 
or orthography (they almost always spell labour “ labor,” and 
harbour, “harbor”). The Australians will do the same if they 
do not take care. Why should not all possess the noble am- 


* Aclever English writer has just published a volume on the institu- 
tions of the people called Swiss in English. He names them Switzer. 
For what reason? Will there soon be Deutschers ? 


410 M. A. de Candolle on the Advantage 


bition of giving to the world one uniform concise language, 
supported by an immense literature and spoken in the next 
century by 800 or 1000 millions of civilized men? ‘To other 
languages it would be as a vast mirror in which each would 
become reflected, thanks to newspapers and translations, and all 
the friends of intellectual culture would have a convenient 
medium for the interchange of ideas. It would be rendering 
an immense service to future races; and at the same time the 
authors and men of science of English-speaking race would 
give a strong impulsion to their own ideas. ‘he Americans, 
above all, are interested in this stability, since their country is 
to be the most important of those of English tongue. How 
can they acquire a greater influence over Old England than 
by speaking her language with exactness ? 

The liberty of action permitted amongst people of English 
race adds to the danger of a division in the language. Hap- 
pily, however, certain causes which broke up the Latin lan- 
guage do not exist for English nations. ‘The Romans con- 
quered nations the idioms of which were maintained or reap- 
peared here and there in spite of administrative unity. The 
Americans and Australians, on the contrary, have before them 
only savages, who disappear without leaving any trace. The 
Romans were conquered and dismembered in their turn by the 
barbarians. Of their ancient civilization no evidence of unity 
remained, unless it was in the Church, which has itself felt the 
influence of the universal decline. The Americans and Austra- 
lians possess many flourishing schools; they have the lite- 
rature of England as well as their own. If they choose, they 
can wieid their influence by means of maintaining the unity 
of the language. Certain circumstances make it possible for 
them to do so; thus the teachers and professors mostly come 
from the States of New England. If these influential men 
truly comprehend the future destiny of their country, they will 
use every effort to transmit the language in its purity; they 
will follow classic authors and discard local innovations and 
expressions. In this question of language, real patriotism (or, 
if you will, the patriotism of Americans really ambitious for 
their country) ought to be to speak the English of Old Eng- 
land, to imitate the pronunciation of the English, and to fol- 
low their whimsical orthography until changed by themselves. 
Should they obtain this of their countrymen, they would 
render to all nations and to their own an unquestionable benefit 
for futurity. 

The example of England proves the influence of education 
upon the unity of a language. It is the habitual contact of 


of a Dominant Language for Science. 411 


educated people and the perusal of the same books which, little 
by little, is causing the disappearance of Scotch words and 
accent. A few years more, and the language will be uniform 
throughout Great Britain. ‘The principal newspapers, edited 
by able men, also exercise a happy influence in preserving 
unity. Whole columns of ‘The Times’ are written in the 
language of Macaulay and Bulwer, and are read by millions 
of people: the result is an impression which maintains the 
public mind in a proper literary attitude. 

In America the newspaper articles are not so well written ; 
but the schools are accessible to all classes, and the universi- 
ties count amongst their professors men especially accomplished 
in their use of the English tongue. If ever there should arise 
a doubt in the opinions of the two countries as to the advisa- 
bility of modifying the orthography, or even making changes 
in the language, it would be an excellent plan to organize a 
meeting of delegates from the principal universities of the 
Three Kingdoms, of America, and Australia, to propose and 
discuss such changes. Doubtless they would have the good 
sense to make as few innovations as possible; and, thanks to 
common consent, the advice would probably be followed. A 
few modifications in the orthography alone would render the 
English language more easy to strangers, and would contri- 
bute towards the maintenance of unity in pronunciation 
throughout Anglo-American countries. 


Notes by Dr. J. E. GRAY. 


It may be observed, in addition, that the people who use 
the English language in different parts of the world are a 
reading and book-buying people, and especially given to the 
study of scientific or quasi-scientific books, as is proved by 
the fact of the extensive sale which they command. 

In support of this assertion I may quote the Baron Férus- 
sac’s review of Wood’s ‘ Index Testaceologicus,’ in the Bull. 
Sci. Nat. Paris, 1829, p. 375. He remarks :— 

“‘ We observe with interest the number of subscribers that 
exist in England for an octavo volume on shells, cost- 
ing 186 francs. It is a curious fact, which booksellers and 
authors will appreciate, as it will afford them the means of 
seeing how a return is obtained for their outlay on such works 
in England, compared with other countries. The number of 
subscribers is 280, of which 34 are females and 6 foreigners. 
Certainly all the rest of Europe could not produce as many, 
nor perhaps even the half of that number.” 


412 On a Dominant Language for Science. 


How much more astonished would M. Férussac have been, if 
informed that these were only the subscribers before publica- 
tion, and that 1000 copies were sold! Since 1829 the sale of 
scientific books has much increased, as is shown, for example, 
by the many editions of the works of Lyell and other naturalists, 
each edition being of 1000 copies. 

Most scientific books in France and other continental coun- 
tries can only be published when the Government furnishes the 
cost ; and they are chiefly published in an expensive form as a 
national display, and are almost confined to their public libra- 
ries, except the sale of copies that are bought by English 
collectors. 

In England such works are generally published by indi- 
vidual enterprise, and depend on the general public for their 
support, and are published in a style to suit the different 
classes. Thus there are works of luxury for the rich, often 
published by individuals who confine themselves to the pro- 
duction of that class of books, very cheap works for the stu- 
dent and mechanic, and books of all intermediate grades, pro- 
duced by the regular publishers. The females of all grades 
are extensive readers of this class of books, which I believe is 
chiefly the case with English-speaking races. 

Some of the scientific Swedes and Russians have published 
their papers in the English language, or appended an abstract 
in English to them, as Thorell on European spiders, Prof. 
Lilljeborg on Lysianassa, and Prof. Wackerbarth on the 
planet Leda, &e. &e. The Danes and Dutch often publish 
their scientific papers in French, as Temminck, Reinhardt, 
and the late Prof. Van der Hoeven, who themselves read and 
write English ; but it appears they regard French as the polite 
language of courts, and forget that courtiers generally have a 
contempt for science and that they should look among the 
people for their readers. 

t is to be observed that Professor de Candolle himself uses 
the French language with a very English construction ; but we 
believe that his work would have commanded the greatest 
number of readers if written in the English language, which 
he reads and writes so fluently. 

See also Mr. Galton’s interesting article on the Causes 
which create Scientific Men, in the ‘Fortnightly Review’ for 
March 1873, p. 346, which contains some interesting observa- 
tions on M. de Candolle’s work. 


On the Paleozoic Bivalved Entomostraca. 413 


XLVI.—WNotes on the Paleozoic B Cano Entomostraca. No. X. 
Entomis and Entomidella. By Prof. T. Rupert Jongs, 
E.R... E.G. 


THESE two genera of Paleozoic Bivalved Entomostraca are 
little known, though comprising several wide-spread species, 
found in Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous strata. To 
draw attention to these small but well-marked and abundant 
fossils, by offering a synopsis of their species, will be useful, it 
is hoped, to palzontologists. 


I. Entomis, Jones, 1861. 


Cypridina, De Koninck, 1841. Mém. Acad. R. Se. Belg. vol. xiv. p. 18; 
1844, Descr. Anim. foss. Terr. Carb. Belg. p. 587. 

Cypridina, G. Sandberger, 1842. Leonh. u. Bronn’s Jahrb. f. 1842, 
p- 226; 1845. Jahrb. Ver. Nat. Nassau, Heft ii. p. 121; G. & F. 
Sandberger, Verst. Rhein. Sch. Nassau, p. 4. 

Cypridina, F. A. Romer, 13854. Paleontographica, vol. iii.; Beitr. 
Harzgeb. pp. 19, 28, 42. 

Cypridina, Richter, 1856, Denksch. math.-nat. Cl. k. Akad. Wien, 
vol. xi.; Beitr. Palaont. Thur. Waldes, p. 35. 

Entomis, Jones, 1861. Mem, Geol. Surv. Gt. Brit., Geol. Edinburgh 
(Map 32), p. 187. 

Entomis, Jones & Kirkby, 1863. Geologist, vi. p. 460; 1864. Rep. 
Brit. Assoc. Newcastle, 1863, Trans. Sect. p. 80; Neues Jahrb. f. 
1864, p. 54; Canad. Nat. Geol. n. s. vol. i. p. 237. 

Entomis, Bigsby, 1868. Thesaurus Siluricus, p. 74. 

Entomis, Jones, 1869, Palzeoz. Biv. Entom. (Geol. Assoc.), pp. 2 & 5; 
1870. Month. Microsc. Journ. vol. iv. pp. 185, 187. 

Entomis, Barrande, 1872. Crust. Poiss. Sil. Bohéme (Extrait &c.), p. 41 ; 
Syst. Sil. Bohéme, vol. i., Suppl. p. 513. 


Entomis is a bivalved Entomostracon of uncertain alliance. 
It has an ovato-oblong, bean-like carapace. The valves are 
strongly indented by a transverse furrow, which begins on the 
dorsal margin, at about one third of its length from the anterior 
extremity, and reaches halfway or more across the valve. 
This is the usual place of the dorsal or nuchal sulcus in several 
Paleozoic Ostracoda, as:—Aristozoe, Barrande; Orozoe, Barr. ; 
Cypridella, De Koninck ; Cyprella, De Kon. ; Primitia, Jones 
& Holl; Lsochilina, Jones; Leperditia, Rouault ; Beyrichia, 
M‘Coy ; and Hippa, Barr. 

The surface of each valve sometimes presents in front of the 
sulcus a rounded tubercle : but this is variable in position and 

shape; sometimes it is a spine, sometimes it is wanting. 

The anterior margin is not indented by any sinus or notch, 
and is therefore without beak or hood. 

In Entomis tuberosa a radiate muscle-spot, in connexion 
with the tubercle, is shown on casts in Silurian mudstone from 


414 Prof. T. Rupert Jones on the 


the Pentland Hills, Scotland (Messrs. Haswell and Brown’s 
Collections). 

The surface of the valves in some species is ornamented 
with delicate riblets, transverse, longitudinal, or concentric. 

As far as the shape of the carapace is coneerned, Hntomis 
stands in the same relation to Cypridella of De Koninck as 
Polycope of Sars to Cypridina of Milne-Edwards, the anterior 
notch having disappeared in both Po/ycope and Entomis. The 
animals, however, may have respectively differed very much ; 
for Polycope and Cypridina belong to different families, and 
the deep nuchal furrow in Hntomis, far more impressed than in 
Cypridella, was probably in direct relation with the structure 
of its internal organs, under modifications not present in other 
genera. 

The physiological meaning of the nuchal furrow in these 
Entomostraca is not understood. It is faintly indicated in 
Philomedes and Halocypris; it is stronger in Pleopsis and 
Daphnella, belonging to quite another group of Entomostraca. 


The known ELntomides are :— 


1. Entomis concentrica (De Koninck), 1841. 


Cypridina concentrica, De Kon. 1841, Mém. Acad. Roy. Belg. vol. xiv. 
p- 18, f. 10; 1844. Desc. Anim. foss. Terr. Carb. Belg. p. 587, pl. 52. 
figs. 4, 5. 

Cythere concentrica, Dupont, 1863. Bull. Acad. R. Se. Belg. ser. 2, 
vol. xv. p. 110. 

Entomis concentrica, Jones & Kirkby, 1864. Neues Jahrb. fiir 1864, p. 54; 
Canad. Nat. Geol. n.s. vol. i. p. 237. 


Lower Carboniferous: Belgium. 


2. Entomis serratostriata (G. Sandberger), 1842. 


Cypridina serratostriata, G. Sandberger, Leonh. u. Bronn’s Jahrb. 1842, 
p. 226; Jahrb. Ver. Nat. Nassau, Heft ii. 1845, p. 121, pl. 1. fig. 6; 
G. & F. Sandberger, Verstein. Rhein. Schicht. Nassau, 1850, p. 4, 
pl. 1. fig.2. From the Cypridinen-Schiefer of Nassau. 

Cypridina serratostriata, F, A. Romer, 1854, Paleeontogr. iii. Beitr. 
geol. Kennt. nordw. Harzgeb. p. 42, pl. 6. fig. 15. From the Cypri- 
dinen-Schiefer of the Harz. 

Cypridina ? serratostriata, Jones, in Morris’s Catal. Brit. Foss. 1854, 
p. 104. Devonshire ? 

Cypridina serratostriata, Richter, 1856. Denkschr. Akad. Wien, vol. xi., 
Beitr. Pal. Thiir. Waldes, p. 35, pl. 2. figs. 20-29. Thuringia. 

Cypridina serratostriata, Ferd. Romer, 1856. In Bronn’s Leth. Geogn. 
3rd edit. vol. i. p. 5382 (not including the synonyms). Germany. 

“Entomis of the Cypridinen-Schiefer,” Jones & Kirkby, 1863. Geolo- 
gist, vi. p. 460; 1864, Rep. Brit. Assoc. Newcastle, 1863, Trans. 
Sect. p. 80. 


Devonian: Europe; England (fide Ferd. Romer & Godwin- 


Austen*). 


* Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xiii. p. [xxxix. 


Paleozoic Bivalved Entomostraca. 415 


3. Entomis nitida (F. A. Romer), 1854. 


Cypridina nitida, F. A. Romer, 1854. Paleeontographica, vol. iii. ; 
Beitrage Harzgebirge, p- 28, pl. 4. fig. 20. 


Goniatite Limestone of the Harz. 


4. Entomis fragilis (F. A. Rémer), 1854. 


Cypridina fragilis, F. A. Romer, 1854, Paleeontogr. vol. iii. ; Beitrage 
Harzgebirge, p. 19, pl. 3. fig. 31. 


Weissenbach Schists of the Harz. 


5. Entomis globulus (Richter), 1856. 


Cypridina globulus, Richter, 1856. Denkschr. Akad. Wien, vol. x1. ; 
Beitr. Pal. Thur. Waldes, p. 36, pl. 2. figs. 80-82. 


Cypridinen-Schiefer, Thuringia. 


6. Entomis gyrata* (Richter), 1856. 
Cypridina gyrata, Richter, 1856. Tbid. figs. 38, 34. 
Cypridinen-Schiefer, Thuringia. 


7. Entomis teniata (Richter), 1856. 
Cypridina teniata, Richter, 1856, Ibid. fig. 35. 
Cypridinen-Schiefer, Thuringia. 


8. Entomis tuberosa, Jones, 1861. 
Entomis tuberosa, Jones, 1861. Mem. Geol. Sury. Gt. Brit., Neighb. 
Edinburgh (Map 82), p. 187, pl. 2. fig. 5. 
Upper Silurian: Aymestry, and Bow Bridge, near Ludlow, 
Shropshire; Pentland Hills, Scotland; Yarra Lumla, New 
South Wales. 


9. Entomis impendens, Haswell, 1865. 


Entomis impendens, Haswell, 1865, Silur. Form. Pentland Hills, p. 38, 
pl. 3. fig. 11. 


Upper Silurian: Pentland Hills, Scotland. 


10. Entomis biconcentrica, Jones, 1870. 


Entomis biconcentrica, Jones, 1870, Month. Microsc. Journ. vol. iy. 
p. 185, pl. 61. fig. 18, 


Lower Carboniferous : England; Ireland. 


* Illustrated by a so-called ‘back view” of the carapace. This and 
other “ back views ” of carapaces among Dr. Richter’s figures are not clear 
to me; and I wait for a fuller description of these species. Figs. 36-38 
illustrate a very curious form, “Cypridina calcarata” (p. 87), which, 
possibly a link between Cyprella and Entomis, requires further examination. 


416 On the Paleozoic Bivalved Entomostraca. 


11. Entomis aciculata, Jones, MS. 1871. 
Entomis aciculata, Jones, MS. 1871 (Mr. D. J. Brown’s Collection. 
See Rep. Brit. Assoc. Edinburgh, 1871, Trans. Sect. p. 93). 


Upper Silurian: Pentland Hills, Scotland. 
12. Entomis dimidiata, Barrande, 1872. 


Entomis dimidiata, Barrande, 1872. Crust. Poiss. Sil. Bohéme (Ex- 
trait &e.), p. 41; Syst. Sil. Bohéme, vol. i., Suppl. p. 513, pl. 24. 
figs. 7-9. 


Upper Silurian; Stages III. Ee 2, Ff 2, Gg1: Bohemia. 


13. Entomis migrans, Barr. 1872. 
Entomis migrans, Barr. 1872. Ibid. p. 514, pl. 24. figs. 10-14, & pl. 27. 


fig. 22. 


Upper Silurian ; Colony in Dd 5, and Ee 1, Ke 2: Bohemia. 


14. Entomis pelagica, Barr. 1872. 
Entomis pelagica, Barr. 1872. Ibid. p. 515, pl. 24. figs. 1-6. 
Upper Silurian ; Stage Ff2: Bohemia. 


15. Entomis rara, Barr. 1872. 
Entomis rara, Barr. 1872. Ibid. p. 616, pl. 25. figs. 25, 24. 
Lower Silurian; Stage Dd 5: Bohemia. 


In the Carboniferous Limestone of Belgium Entomis con- 
centrica (De Koninck) is a characteristic fossil. In the same 
great geological formation in the British Islands four species 
have been met with by Mr. Joseph Wright, F.G.S., and Mr. 
J. H. Burrow, M.A. Entomis biconcentrica from Little 
Island, Cork, Ireland, has been already noticed; another, 
E. obscura, Jones & Kirkby MS8., from the same locality and 
from the North of England, and two from Settle in Yorkshire, 
E. Burrovit and E. Koninckiana, J. & K. MS., have yet to be 
described. 


II. ENTOMIDELLA, gen. nov. 


In 1861 the genus Hntomis was intended to include £. 
divisa, in which the nuchal furrow, altogether crossing the 
valves, divides off the anterior moiety. But it is now pro- 
posed to make a distinct generic group, ENTOMIDELLA, for 
E. divisa and E. buprestis, in which the furrow is continued 
across the valve, and no tubercle is present. 


1. Entomidella divisa, Jones. 
Entomis divisa, Jones, 1861. Mem. Geol. Sury. Gt. Brit., Edinburgh 


Dr. Albert Giinther on Ceratophrys, dc. 417 


(Map 82), p. 137; 1870. Month. Microsc. Journ. vol. iv. p. 185, 
pl. 61. fig. 12. 


Upper Siluvian: Builth and Ludford. 


2. Hntomidella buprestis (Salter). 
Leperditia buprestis, Salter, 1866. Rep. Brit. Assoc, p. 285. 
Leperditia ? punctatissima, Salter, Siluria, 1867, Appendix, p. 519. 
Entomis buprestis, Jones, 1872. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe. vol. xxviii. 
p. 188, pl. 5. fig. 15. 


Menevian: St. David’s, Wales. 


On account of their extremely developed nuchal furrow, Zn- 
tomis and Hntomddella stand apart from the other known 
Ostracoda, recent and fossil, and may be grouped in a family 
as ENTOMIDID&. 

In an undescribed bivalved Entomostracon (Sulcuna, gen. 
nov., with two species, from the Carboniferous Limestone of 
Cork, Ireland) the, nuchal sulcus, passing very obliquely 
downwards and forwards, is so well defined as to cut off the 
antero-dorsal region of each valve, and raises it into a hump 
or a sharp process, pointing upwards and backwards. ‘This 
genus, however, cannot be allied to Hntomis; for it presents 
evidence of the Cypridinal notch on the anterior margin, and 
is far more closely related to Cypridella. 


XLVIL.— Contribution to our Knowledge of Ceratophrys and 
Megalophrys. By Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER, F.R.S. 
Ceratophrys Fryt. 

No bony dorsal shield. Skin densely covered with small 
tubercles unequal in size; the two dorsal lines of tubercles, 
which are so conspicuous in C. Botet, are absent on the anterior 
and middle portions of the back, but represented by two short 
series commencing in the sacral region and converging into a 
point above the vent. .Supraciliary horn long and_ pointed. 
The upperside of the head deeply concave, bordered on each 
side by a blunt-edged ridge terminating on the occiput, and in 
front by a rough prominent crest running from the eye to the 
nostril. Tympanum not visible. ‘The vomerine teeth stand 
on a rather long transverse ridge slightly interrupted in the 
middle, between the choane. ‘Tongue much smaller than in 
C. Boiet, not covering the bottom of the buccal cavity. Digits 
rather long, with the tubercles on the lower side much developed; 
carpus with three ovate flattish tubercles, the middle of which 
is a little larger than the outer. Metatarsal tubercle long, as 

Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol. xi. 27 


418 Dr. Albert Giinther on Ceratophrys, dc. 


long as its distance from the end of the inner toe; third toe 
rather longer than fifth. Web between the toes very short, 
but conspicuous. 

Upper parts brown, indistinctly marbled with darker. The 
upperside of the snout milk-white, the boundary between the 
brown and white being marked by a black line. Lower parts 
white, with irregular brownish-black spots. 


lines 
Tienethiof thie: body’... 25). 6 se a. 24 valet 35 
Width between the angles of the mouth .. 16 
RE OR OPE LAE © 5:65: 0a laha ooo te agate aale 23, 
Fs EEG TMEEOT 5 Sra oy Scare ioe aah koe ae 42 
Ss HECOMG MEER Lead a wate 32 
be IE TRE Sen ee ceca o aoe ie ee 54 
we ivi ere Sd. hts ie Sr 40 


Distance between heel and end of fourth toe 18 
Length of metatarsal tubercle............ oF 


A female of this fine species, from the Serra de Mantiqueira, 
Minas Geraes, has been presented to the British Museum 
by A. Fry, Esq., a gentleman who has contributed numerous 
valuable specimens from Brazil to the National Collection. 


Ceratophrys appendiculata. 


Allied to C. Bote’; but the upper parts are covered with 
skinny appendages instead of with tubercles, and the snout 
terminates in atriangular flap. A pair of prominent glandular 
ridges on the back, running from the long supraciliary horns 
to the vent; a similar transverse ridge between the two horns. 
Snout more depressed than in the other species, and crown 
of the head but slightly concave. T'ympanum not visible. 
Vomerine teeth on two short prominences between the choane. 
Tongue not covering the bottom of the buccal cavity. The 
two outer carpal tubercles very small, much smaller than the 
inner ; metatarsal tubercle long, nearly as long as its distance 
from the inner toe. Third toe rather longer than fifth. Web 
between the toes very short. 

Upper parts greyish, with symmetrical brown markings ; 
throat brown ; lower parts densely speckled with brown. 


lines, 
Teneth OPine pady 2 PSUS ee! ees 25 
Width between the angles of the mouth .. 13 
Ihength of fore des... os MiG ee ee 17 
57) hindbleg’. wth Ose 33 


Distanee between heel and end of fourth toe 15 


One male specimen; purchased. It is from Brazil, but it 
could not be ascertained from what part. 


Rev. A. M. Norman on Ligidium agile, Persoon. 419 


Megalophrys montana and Megalophrys nasuta. 


At the time of the publication of the ‘Reptiles of British 
India’ (1864) I Had seven examples for examination. Three 
of them were provided with a rostral appendage, and con- 
sequently belonged to “Ceratophrys nasuta of Schlegel ;” they 
were males. The four others had no such appendage, and 
proved to be females. In this curious coincidence some excuse 
may be found for my drawing the inference that these examples, 
so extremely similar to one another in other respects, were of 
the same species, and that the rostral appendage was a secon- 
dary sexual character peculiar to the male (Rept. B. Ind. 

. 413). 

= However, in the course of last month the British Museum 
received three additional examples, every one of which shows 
that I have fallen into an error. Two of them (larger than 
any example I had previously seen, the body being 5 inches 
long), from Matang in, Borneo, have a well-developed rostral 
appendage, but they are females. The other (probably from 
Java) is a male and lacks the appendage. 

Therefore there can be no further doubt that there exist in 
reality two species of Megalophrys with a somewhat singular 
distribution ; for whilst J/. nasuta appears to be rather common 
in Borneo, the Malayan peninsula, and Sumatra, 1. montana is 
limited to Java and Ceylon. 

I regret to have fallen into this error, the more so as Mr. 
Darwin, whose attention I had directed to Megalophrys, has 
referred to these frogs in his ‘Descent of Man,’ 1871, ii. p. 26, 
and figured the heads of the two species as those of the male 
and female of the same animal. 


XLVIII.—Note on the Discovery of Ligidium agile, Persoon 
(=Zia Saundersii, Stebbing),in Great Britain. By the 
Rev. A. M. Norman, M.A. 


Tue Crustacean which Mr. Stebbing has described in the 
‘Annals’ for April, p. 286, under the name Za Saundersii, 
and which was found by him near Copthorn Common, is a 
well-known European species, which it is astonishing that 
Mr. Spence Bate, to whom it would appear that it was sub- 
mitted, should not have immediately recognized. It is an 
interesting addition to our Crustacean fauna. 

The Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing quotes the following words from 
Spence Bate and Westwood’s ‘ British Sessile-eyed Crustacea ‘ 

27% 


420 Rev. A. M. Norman on Ligidium agile, Persoon. - 


with reference to the genus Philoscia :—It is a curious cir- 
_ cumstance that the animals of this genus, common as they are, 
and well described by Latreille and Zaddach, should have been 
unknown to Brandt, Lereboullet, and Milne-Edwards, who 
have affirmed that the genus ought to be re-united to Oniscus, 
whereas it is in fact more nearly allied in several respects to 
LIngia. The typical species appears to have been figured by 
Koch under the name of Ligta melanocephala, which in his 
generic table he subsequently altered into the generic name of 
Zia, giving, however, fifteen joints to the antenne, the flagellum 
being represented as composed of ten articulations.” 

Now, while the authors to whom Spence Bate and Westwood 
refer were undoubtedly wrong in mistaking a certain species of 
Oniscus for the genus Philoscia, Bate and Westwood have 
themselves fallen into as serious an error in merging Za, with 
itsfifteen-jointed antenne andother strongly marked characters, 
with Philoscta. The genus Za of Koch is synonymous with 
the previously described genus Ligidiwm, Brandt; and our 
recently discovered British Crustacean is the typical species, 
the Ligidium Persoon’, Brandt, the specific name of which 
must, however, yield to the prior appellation of Persoon him- 
self, and the Oniscoid must bear the name of Ligidium agile 
(Persoon). 

Mr. Stebbing’s woodcut is very characteristic, and agrees 
very closely with the admirable figures of Lereboullet. 

The following is the complete synonymy of the species as far 
as it is known tome. As here in the country I have no means 
of referring to such works as are not in my own library, I am 
unable personally to verify four of the references, namely those 
to Koch, Panzer, Brandt, and Cuvier, the first of which I quote 
on the authority of Budde-Lund in his ‘Danmarks Isopode 
Landkrebsdyr,’ and the last three on the authority of Lere- 
boullet. Zaddach gives Za melanocephala, Koch, as a syno- 
nym, and adds “Zia paludicola et Zia agilis, quas Koch 
describit, varietates tantum hujus speciei esse videntur.” 


Ligidium agile (Persoon). 

Oniscus agilis, Persoon; Panzer, Faun. Germ. fase. ix. fig. 24. 

Oniscus hypnorum, Cuvier, Journ. d’'Hist. Nat. vol. ii. p. 19, pl. xxvi. 
figs. 8-5; Fabricius, Syst. Entom. Suppl. p. 500. 

Ligia hypnorum, Latreille, Gen. Crust. et Insect. vol. i. p. 68, Hist. Nat. 
des Crust. et Insect. vol. vii. p. 51; Bose (edit. Desmarest), Hist. Nat. 
des Crust. vol. ii. p. 179; Desmarest, Consid, Gén. sur la Classe des 
Crust. p. 318; Lucas, Hist. Nat. des Crust. p. 263. 

Lygidium Persooni, Brandt, Conspectus Crust. Onisc. p. 174; Milne- 
Edwards, Hist. Nat. des Crust. vol. iii. p. 158; Lereboullet, Mém. 
sur les Cloportides, p. 14, pl. i. fig. 1, & pl. ii. figs. 20-51 ; Johnsson, 


c 


Prof. E. Hiickel on the Calcispongie. 421 


Synop. Frams. af Sveriges Oniscider (1858), p. 10; Zaddach, Synop. 
Crust. Prussic. Prod. p. 17; Fric, Die Krustenthiere Bohmens (1872), 
p. 256. 
Zia agilis, Koch, Deutschl. Crust. xxxiv. f. 22, 23. 
Ligidium ‘hypnorum, Budde-Lund, Naturhistorisk Tidsskrift, 1871, 
. 226. 
Zia Saundersti, Stebbing, Ann, & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1878, ser. 4. vol. xi. 
p- 286. 


Ligidium agile has a wide European distribution, and has 
been found in Sweden, Denmark, Prussia, Bohemia, and 
France. It might therefore have been expected to be found 
in Great Britain, especially as Latreille’s specimens had been 
received from the shores of the British Channel (‘ Habitat in 
littoribus Oceani Britannici, ab entomologo Brébisson mihi 
transmissus ’’). 

The relationship of the species to Ligia rather than to 
Oniscus was first pointed out by Fabricius, who, in his ‘Suppl. 
Entom. Syst.,’ though he assigns it to Oniscus, asks “An 
potius Ligia ?” 

As has been alreatly mentioned, Koch described two other 
species, which, however, are perhaps mere varieties of L. agile. 
More recently Schébel has described a form, under the name 
of Ligidium amethistinum, as distinct from L. agile. Perhaps 
this species also is destined hereafter to reward the careful 
search of some British carcinologist. Very little has as yet 
been done among our /and Crustacea, my lamented friend 
Dr. Kinahan being the only British naturalist who has paid 
any attention to the Isopoda Aérospirantia. 


XLIX.—On the Calcispongie, their Position in the Animal 
Kingdom, and their Relation to the Theory of Descendence. 
By Professor Ernst HACKEL. 


[Continued from p. 262.] 


II. THE CALCISPONGLE AND THE THEORY OF DESCENDENCE. 
1. Principles of Classification. 


The task which we had set before us as the primary object in 
this monograph of the Calcispongie, the analytical solution of 
the problem of the origin of species, has been followed out in dif- 
ferent ways in the first and second volumes. In the first 
volume, and especially in its second section, the “ Morphology 
of the Calcispongie,” I have endeavoured to describe all the 


422 Prof. E. Hiickel on the Calcispongize 


characters of form occurring in this group in their general con- 
nexion, and to explain the perfect “unity of their plan of 
structure’ by the common descent of all Calcispongie from the 
Olynthus. In the second volume, on the other hand, I have 
sought to demonstrate the stock-relationship of all the forms 
of this group by subjecting the species of Calcispongiz to the 
most exact anatomical analysis; in doing which I found my- 
self compelled, in opposition to the existing rules of classifi- 
cation, to set side by side two perfectly different systems, a 
natural and an artificial one. 

The principles of classification which I have followed will 
manifest themselves tothe thoughtful reader from a comparative 
study of the two systems. The natural system is “carried out 
in accordance with the phylogenetic principles of the theory of 
descendence, with an average extension of the idea of species.” 
It contains 21 genera with 111 species. The artificial system 
is “carried out in accordance with the principles hitherto 
followed in the classification of the sponges, with an average 
extension of the idea of species.” It includes 39 genera with 
289 species. 

The logical principles upon which the artificial system is 
founded are quite different from the genealogical principles 
upon which the natural system rests. The former takes into 
consideration especially the products of adaptation, the latter 
the constancy of inheritance. The artificial system furnishes 
as definite a distinction as possible, and a summary arrangement 
of the various forms founded on those characters which strike 
one as specific characters on a logical comparison merely 
directed to the external morphological connexion of the forms. 
The natural system, on the contrary, strives after the more 
profound recognition of their ¢nternal morphological connexion, 
and seeks, in accordance with this, to approach the genealogical 
tree of the species. As a matter of course, this object will never 
be completely attained among the sponges, any more than with 
other organisms, for the simple reason that the three great 
documents of the natural history of Creation (Comparative 
Anatomy, Ontogeny, and Paleontology) are accessible to us 
only in imperfect fragments. Nevertheless, by continued 
phylogenetic attempts, the natural system will gradually ap- 
proach more and more to the true genealogical tree. 

How far this approximation has been successful in the natural 
system of the Calcispongie, the thoughtful reader will best see 
by the study of the second volume, and especially from the 
estimation of the generic and specific, connective and transitory 
varieties. The approximation to the true genealogical tree is 
more possible than with other groups of organisms, because 


and the Theory of Descendence. 423 


the conditions of cnheritance and adaptation may be unusually 
clearly reviewed in the Calcispongix. The part taken by these 
two formative functions in the production of the individual form 
may be here determined more accurately and certainly than is 
usually the case. 


2. Idea and Descendence of Species. 


The idea of the species is the central point of attack of the 
theory of descendence, and the true nucleus of all discussions on 
‘development or creation.”’ To investigate this idea again here 
would be completely superfluous. I have explained my views 
upon it in such detail in my criticism of the morphological, phy- 
siological, and genealogical idea of species in my ‘General Mor- 
phology’ (Bd. ii. pp. 323-364) that I should merely have to 
repeat what I have there said, All attempts up to this time to 
give the idea of the species a decided limit and contents have 
failed, and by this negative result itself have led tothe conviction 
that the positive idea sought for cannot be defined. The 
genealogical definition of the idea attempted by me is just as 
unsatisfactory and untenable as all the rest. his hes in the 
nature of the thing. The species is just as arbitrary an abs- 
traction produced by the subjective contemplation of the author, 
just as much a category of only relative significance, as the 
ideas of the variety, genus, family, &c. All these categories 
have their value only in their reciprocal relations to one another, 
and owe their origin to the subjective law of specification (I. c. 
p- 331). 

Moreover we have only to glance at the practice in zoological 
and botanical classification to be convinced that the practical 
distinction of species has nothing at all to do with all these theo- 
retical definitions of the idea of species. On the contrary there 
prevails in that distinction the greatest subjective arbitrariness, 
and hence an endless dispute between the various systematists. 
No two systematists, who have thoroughly worked upon the 
same group of forms, have ever yet agreed perfectly as to the 
number and limitation of the species united in it. 

In the Calcispongiz the practical distinction of species is 
subject to much greater difficulties than in most other groups 
of animals. According as the systematist conceives the idea 
of the species in a wider or narrower form, according as he 
estimates most highly the principles of the artificial or the 
natural system, he may considerably increase or diminish the 
number of 21 genera and 111 species of the natural system 
which are described in the first section of my second volume. 
The natural system might, for example, be founded upon any 
one of the following six conceptions :—A. 1 genus with 1 


424 Prof. E. Hackel on the Calcispongiz 


species; B. 1 genus with 3 species; C. 3 genera with 21 
species ; D, 21 genera with 111 species ; EK. 43 genera with 
181 species ; F. 43 genera with 289 species. On the other 
hand the artificial system might experience the following six 
arrangements :—G. 1 genus with 7 species; H. 2 genera with 
19 species ; I. 7 genera with 39 species; K. 19 genera with 
181 species; L. 39 genera with 289 species; M. 113 genera 
with 591 species. very one of these twelve systems might 
cite in its support arguments such as every systematist brings 
forward in favour of his subjective conception. None of them, 
however, could ever be demonstrated as the absolutely true 
system. This circumstance shows most clearly that no absolute 
species exists, and that species and variety cannot be sharply 
separated *, 


3. Generic and Specific, Connective and Transitory Varieties. 


The different forms which I have cited in the system of the 
Calcispongie as generic and specific, connective and transitory 


* The twelve systems here cited as examples (in which, moreover, the 
external form is not taken into consideration) would be as follows :— 

A. I. Natural system with the widest conception of the idea of species 
(in the first degree): a single genus with one species, Calcispongia 
grantia. 

B. IL. Natural system with a very wide extension of the idea of species 
(in the second degree): a single genus with three species: 1. Caleispongia 
ascon, 2. C. leucon, 3. C. sycon. 

C. LI. Natural system with a narrower conception of the idea of species 
(in the third degree) : 3 genera (Ascon, Leucon, Sycon) with 21 species. 
Here the 21 groups of forms which the next system accepts as genera 
( Ascetta, Leucetta, Sycetta, &c.) are reckoned as species. 

D. IV. Natural system with average extension of the idea of species 
(in the fourth degree): three families (Ascones, Leucones, Sycones) with 
21 genera and 11] species. 

ki. V. Natural system with a narrower extension of the idea of species 
(in the fifth degree): 5 families with 43 genera and 181 species. This 
system is attained when the subgenera cited in the natural system in the 
second volume are accepted as “ good genera,” and the “ specific varieties ”’ 
or incipient species as “ good species.” Their characters are sufficiently 
sharply marked and relatively constant. 

F, VI. Natural system with a very narrow extension of the idea of 
species (in the sixth degree): 5 orders, with 21 families, 43 genera, and 
289 species. This system is attained by a further analytical specification 
of the fifth system, the “ generic varieties ” of the latter being raised to the 
value of distinct species. 

G. VII. Artificial system with the widest conception of the idea of 
species (in the first degree) : all Calcispongiz form a single genus, Grantia 
(Fleming, 1828), or Leucalia (Grant, 1829), or Calcispongia (Blainville, 
1834). We may then distinguish the following as seven species :— 
1. Caleispongia dorograntia ; 2. C. cystograntia ; 3. C. cormograntia; 4. C. 
cenograntia ; 5. C. tarrograntia ; 6. C. cophograntia; 7. C. metrograntia. 


and the Theory of Descendence. 425 


varieties, are of the greatest importance to the theory of de- 
scendence and the object of this monograph, namely to ascertain 
analytically the origin of species as exemplified by a single 
group. The thoughtful and unprejudiced systematist, who 
has followed carefully the method of classification followed by 
me in the second volume, will comprehend without further 
explanation the extraordinary phylogenetic importance of these 
four different varieties. I may, however briefly sum up the 
most important points connected with them. 

1. The generic varieties of the natural system are the genera 
of the artificial system. Within one and the same natural 
species many different forms may be developed by multifarious 
stock-formation and mouth-formation ; and these the artificial 
system (having no knowledge of their close genealogical con- 
nexion) must regard unconditionally as representatives not 
only of distinct species but even of distinct genera. Thus, 
for example, Ascandra variabilis includes forms which the 
artificial system would divide among eleven different genera ; 


= 


H. VIII. Artificial system with a very wide extension of the idea of 
species (in the second degree): 2 genera with 19 species, namely :— 
I. MonoGrantTIA, with 6 solitary species: 1. M. olynthus; 2. M. disycus; 
3. M. sycurus; 4. M. clistolynthus ; 5. M. lipostomella; 6. M. sycocystis : 
II. PoLtyerantia, with 13 social species, namely: 1. P. soleniscus; 2. P. 
amphoriscus ; 5. P. sycothamnus; 4. P. nardosus; 5. P. ceenostomus ; 6. P. 
tarrus; 7. P. artynas; 8. P. auloplegma; 9. P. aphroceras; 10. P. syco- 
phyllum ; 11. P. ascometra; 12. P. leucometra; 13. P. sycometra. 

{. IX. Artificial system with a narrower extension of the idea of species 
(in the third degree): 7 genera with 39 species. The genera would be :— 
1. Dorograntia; 2. Cystograntia; 3, Cormograntia; 4. Canograntia ; 
). Tarrograntia ; 6. Cophograntia ; 7. Metrograntia. The 39 species would 
be represented by the 39 forms which are cited as genera in the artificial 
system in the second volume. Thus, for example, the second genus 
(Cystograntia) would contain three species:—l. C. elistolynthus ; 2. C. 
lipostomelia ; and 3. C. sycocystis. 

K. X. Artificial system with a still narrower extension of the idea of 
species (in the fourth degree) : 7 families, with 19 genera and 181 species. 
The 7 genera of the ninth system are here raised to the rank of families, 
and the 19 species of the eighth system to that of genera; and the 181 
species are the same that in the fifth system were divided into 43 essen- 
tially distinct genera. 

L. XL. Artificial system with an average extension of the idea of species 
(in the fifth degree): 7 orders, with 19 families, 39 genera, and 289 
species. This system is carried out in the second section of the second 
volume on the principles hitherto followed in the classification of sponges. 

M. XII. Artificial system with a very narrow extension of the idea of 
species (in the sixth degree): 7 orders, with 19 families, 113 genera, and 
591 species. Here those groups of forms are regarded as genera which 
in the eleventh system had only the rank of subgenera ( Olynthettus, Dys- 
sycettus, Sycurettus, &c.), and as species those forms which figure in the 
eleventh system as subspecies. 


426 Prof. E. Hickel on the Calcispongie 


Leucetta primigenia represents seven different genera of the 
artificial system ; and Sycandya compressa furnishes the arti- 
ficial system with no fewer than nine distinct genera. 

2. The specific varieties of the natural system are ¢ncipient 
species of thé natural system in the sense of the theory of de- 
scendence. By further development and increasing constancy 
of the characters by which the specific varieties of a natural 
species are distinguished they would raise themselves to the 
rank of “bone species.” An analytical system that takes a 
very narrow conception of the idea of species might already 
recognize them as species. Thus, for example: Ascandra 
variabilis would divide into four natural species (A. cervi- 
cornis, confervicola, arachnoides, and hispidissima); Leucetta 
primigenia would form three good species (L. ésor aphis, micro- 
raphis, and megaraphis); and Sycandra compressa would even 
break up into six natural species (S. foliacea, pennigera, 
clavigera, rhopalodes, lobata, and polymorpha). Many of these 
specific varieties have, in fact, already been described as 
species. 

3. The connective varieties of the natural system are direct 
transition forms between the genera of the natural system. ‘The 
foundations of a new natural genus are laid by very trifling 
changes in the constitution of the skeleton. Thus, when certain 
triradiate spicules of the skeleton of Ascetta (Leucetta or 
Sycetta), which is composed only of triradiate spicules, develop 
a fourth ray, this genus passes into Ascaltis (Leucaltis or Sy- 
caltis). Kor example :—Ascandra variabilis furnishes trans- 
ition forms to four natural genera (Ascaltis, Ascortis, Ascu- 
linus, Ascyssa); Leucetta primigenia produces connective forms 
towards three genera of the natural system (Lewcaltis, Leucortis, 
Leucandra); and Sycandra compressa passes into Sycortis. 

4, The transitory varieties of the natural system are direct 
transition forms between the species of the natural system. They 
are the “transitions from one good species to another”? which 
horrify the opponents of the theory of descendence. Such in- 
termediate forms, the existence of which is denied by dogmatic 
species-makers, occur in abundance among the Caleispongie. 
Thus we have transitions from Ascandra variabilis to A. pinus, 
A, Lieberkiihnii, and A. complicata; transitory intermediate 
forms between Leucetta primigenia and L. pandora and 
sagittata ; and direct transitions from Sycandra compressa to 
S. utriculus and lingua. 


A. Polymorphosis and Polymorphism. 
One of the most remarkable peculiarities of the Calcispongie, 


and the Theory of Descendence. 427 


by which they are most strikingly distinguished from most 
other organisms, is the extraordinary instability of the outer 
form of the body. It is this that renders their study so in- 
structive in eonnexion with the problem of species. Every 
systematist knows how great and decisive is the significance 
of the external form in the distinction of species in almost 
every class of animals; indeed the great majority of species 
are distinguished merely by more or less important differences 
in the details of the external form. In complete opposition to 
this, the external form in the Sponges, and especially in the 
Calcispongiz, is so variable that it cannot be employed at all 
for characterizing species, either in the natural or the artificial 
system. What I have observed in this respect among the 
Calcispongiz exceeds all previous conceptions, and goes much 
further than the wonderful variability of the external form in 
the Fibrospongiz, which have been indicated as quite extra- 
ordinary by all recent spongologists, especially Oscar Schmidt. 
A systematist who should adopt the external form alone as a 
specific character m the case of Ascandra variabilis, Leucetta 
primigenta, or Sycandra compressa might at his pleasure di- 
stinguish among the individuals of any one of these extremely 
variable species from a single locality ten, twenty, or more 
than a hundred species. 

It may perhaps seem still more remarkable that this ex- 
cessive instability affects even the most important organs, such 
as the stomachal cavity andthe mouth. In very many natural 
species we find side by side individuals with and without a 
mouth. Among the Fibrospongiz also the loss of both mouth 
and stomach appears to be very frequent. ‘This singular phe- 
nomenon is probably to be explained by the fact that in the 
Sponges (as in the parasitic worms, Crustacea, &c.) the mouth- 
opening does not possess the same physiological importance 
as in the higher animals. It becomes rudimentary and 1s finally 
lost (Cestodea, Rhizocephala, lipogastric Sponges). The 
quadruply different nature of the mouth in the Calcispongie is 
also very variable. 

I have particularly described this remarkable multiformity 
of the species of Calcispongiz in the second volume, and elu- 
cidated it by many figures. Inthe explanation of the plates 
it is called polymorphosis, in contradistinction to the well- 
known polymorphism of the Siphonophora and of many of 
the higher animals. The latter is well known to be a product 
of physiological division of labour. Polymorphosis, on the con- 
trary, is a polymorphism without division of labour ; its cause 
is to be sought merely in adaptations to external conditions of 
existence of quite subordinate importance. 


428 Prof. E. Hickel on the Calcispongiz 


The most remarkable form of polymorphosis among the 
Calcispongiz is the union of polymorphotic persons upon one 
stock, which I have called metrocormism. In the artificial 
system these metrocormotic Calcispongie form the order of the 
Metrograntize (Ascometra, Leucometra, Sycometra). Forms 
which the artificial system regards as representatives of dif- 
ferent genera and species here grow united upon a single stock. 
This fact is quite irreconcilable with the species-dogma. 


5. Causes of the Production of Form. 


Besides the great interest which the biology of the Calci- 
spongiz possesses in connexion with the theory of descendence 
and the critical conception of the organic species, it is also of 
extraordinary general significance, because in this small and 
simply constructed group of animals the true causes of biological 
phenomena, and especially the causes of the production of form, 
may be reviewed with particular clearness and recognized with 
particular certainty. These causes prove throughout to be 
purely mechanical unintelligent causes (cause efficientes), while 
we seek in vain for any designedly active intelligent causes 
(cause finales), 

If we briefly sum up the most essential points relating to 
this matter, we arrive at the following results :— 

1. The general external form of the Calcispongie, both that 
of the social stocks and that of the individual persons, ts a pro- 
duct of growth which is principally governed by adaptation to 
the external conditions of existence of the locality and surround- 
ings; the mode of growth is only to the smallest extent in- 
herited within the species. The same applies to the quadruply 
different formation of the mouth in the persons. 

2. The triply different structure of the wall of the stomach by 
which the three natural families are distinguished is in part a 
product of ¢nherttance and in part of adaptation. ‘he original 
structure of the wall of the stomach, as it occurs in the Ascones, 
is inherited from Olynthus, the stock-form of all Calcispongie : 
Olynthus, however, inherited it from the Archispongia, the 
latter from the Protascus, and this from the Gastrea. ‘The 
structure of the wall of the stomach in the Leucones has been 
produced from that of Olynthus by growth of the exoderm and 
stabilization and ramification of the inconstant pores, and the 
structure in the Sycones by strobiloid budding. 

3. The multifarious other characters of the gastro-canal 
system are mere products of special adaptations, in which the 
flow of water is especially effective ; this, again, is dependent 
on the movement of the flagella of the cells of the entoderm. 


and the Theory of Descendence. 429 


4. The extremely remarkable conditions of the intercanal 
system are brought about merely by concrescence. By this 
purely mechanical process of growth very complicated and 
characteristic,stock-forms and personal forms are produced, in 
which enclosed portions of the sea become constituent organs of 
the organism. 

5. The exceedingly characteristic primary form of the cal- 
careous spicula is: a purely mechanical product of two co- 
operating factors, the capacity for crystallization of calc-spar 
and the secretory activity of the sarcodine. In the production 
of the secondary forms of spicules the formative current of 
water and adaptation to other, more subordinate, external 
conditions of existence are effective. . 

6. The orderly, often very regular, elegant, and apparently 
artificial constitution of the skeletal system is for the most part 
a direct product of the current of water; the characteristic 
position of the spicules is produced by the constant direction of 
the current of water; to a very small extent it is the con- 
sequence of adaptations to subordinate external conditions of 
existence. 

7. All other characters of form which might come into con- 
sideration here may be referred to the formative activity of the 
cells of which the two constituent lamellee of the sponge-body, 
the entoderm and the exoderm, are composed; but these are 
inherited from the Protascus, and further from the Glastrwa. 
The motile phenomena of these cells are particularly efficacious 
in this respect—on the one hand the amebotd movement, and 
on the other the flagellar movement, which is to be referred to 
the latter. 

8. The special properties of these cells in the Calcispongize 
are due to the chemical composition of their body—of the pro- 
toplasm on the one hand and of the nucleus on the other. Of 
these two constituents of the cell, the protoplasm is especially 
to be regarded as the biorgan of adaptation, and the nucleus as 
the biorgan of inheritance. 

9. The (chemical) properties of the two albuminoid com- 
pounds which form the protoplasm and the nucleus are to be 
referred to the peculiar affinities of carbon. Originally they 
were active in the simplest manner in the constitution of the 
plasson which formed the entire body of the simplest Moneron. 
From this was produced, only by adaptation (differentiation of 
the plasson into nucleus and protoplasm), the first cell, an 
Ameba. ‘This is recapitulated, in accordance with the bio- 
genetic fundamental law, by the ovicell. The specific pro- 
perties which the ovicell of the Calcispongie possesses were 
acquired by it by ¢éxherttance from the most ancient Olynthus. 


430 Prof. E, Hiickel on the Calcispongie. 


6. The Calcispongice and Monism. 


The most general results furnished by the present monograph 
of the Calcispongiz are of a purely philosophical nature, and 
may be summed up in the statement that the biogeny of the 
Calcispongic is a coherent proof of the truth of monism. In 
my ‘General Morphology’ I sought todemonstrate synthetically 
that all the phenomena of the organic world of forms can be 
explained and understood only by the monistic philosophy ; and 
now this demonstration is furnished analytically by the mor- 
phology of the Calcispongix. The great contradictions of the 
philosophical conceptions of the world, or between monism or 
the mechanical and dualism or the teleological conception of 
nature, which are rendered evident by every consistent reflec- 
tion, may be tested in detail in the biology of the Calcispongie ; 
and every examination turns out favourable to the former and 
disadvantageous to the latter. 

All the phenomena met with in the morphology of the Cal- 
cispongize may be completely explained by the reciprocal 
action of two physiological functions, ¢nheritance and adapta- 
tion ; and we need no other causes to comprehend their produc- 
tion. All the causes which are found to be effective in the mor- 
phology and physiology of the Calcispongiz are unintelligent 
mechanical causes (cause effictentes) ; and nowhere do we meet 
with intelligent designedly active causes (cause finales). Every- 
where we can detect the prevalence of unalterable natural laws, 
nowhere the interposition of a preconceived plan of creation. 

It might appear that in the form-production of the Calci- 
spongie every thing depended upon chance. But chance no 
more exists in nature than design or freedom. All processes 
are performed with absolute necessity, as the complex result 
of the coincidence of numerous causes, each of which is of 
purely mechanical nature, and itself again conditioned by more 
distant cause effictentes. What we call chance is merely the 
coincidence, unexpected by us, of circumstances each of which 
is finally brought about with absolute necessity by a chain of 
efficient causes. 

As all the phenomena presented to us by the biology of the 
Calcispongie may be perfectly understood by the theory of 
evolution, as a matter of course all assumption of a creation is 
completely excluded in this department. But as the body of 
the Calcispongiz in the developmental stage of the Gastrula 
already consists of the same two germ-lamella which compose 
the body of man and of all the higher animals at an early 
period of embryonic development, we must consistently assume 
the same mechanical development for man also. This indica- 
tion shows in the clearest manner the high importance of the 
Calcispongie for the monistic philosophy. 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Pigs and their Skulls. 431 


L.— Observations on Pigs (Sus, Linneus; Setifera, Illiger) 
and their Skulls, with the Description of a new Species. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


4 
THE Pigs (Setigera) are a well-marked group, which have 
been recognized from the earliest times and are distinguished 
by the least-informed persons. They may almost be considered 
the best and most anciently known thick-skinned Mammalia, 
or Bellue of Linneus, or Multungula of Mliger. 

Some palzontologists, who have only a rudimentary know- 
ledge of zoology and anatomy, and chiefly confine their 
attention to the imperfect skeletons found in a fossil state, 
have separated the Pigs from the other Belluz or thick-hided 
Mammalia, with which they agree in all their chief external 
and internal characters, and placed them with the Ruminants, 
because they have four toes on their feet, and call them Artio- 
dactyla—thus destroying a group which has been acknowledged 
by the Greek philosophers and by the Jewish historians, and 
by Ray, Cuvier, and, deed, naturalists of all times, to combine 
them with a series of animals to which they have little or no 
affinity. 

There can be no doubt that a group that has been so uni- 
versally adopted as the Ruminants or Pecora should not be 
destroyed without very weighty reasons and on account of 
most important characters; and I think that every one must 
allow that the habit of ruminating their food, and their strictly 
herbivorous diet, are much more important characters than the 
mere fact of the animals having four toes, and constitute a 
good reason for not placing with them in one group animals 
that do not ruminate, have a quite different dentition, live on 
a heterogeneous diet, and have entirely different habits, fighting 
with tusks instead of horns. This union is only to be compared 
to the separation of Marsupials from the other Mammalia on 
account of a character that can only be observed during par- 
turition, and which no doubt is of the greatest importance 
to the physiologist, but is scarcely recognizable by the 
zoologist. 

The palzontologists, in choosing to use the group Artio- 
dactyla for the Ruminants and some of the Bellue with four 
toes, have not only destroyed a well-established group, but 
they have separated the Pigs and Hippopotami from their real 
affinities to unite them to the Pecora by a character of com- 
paratively little importance, and one which varies in almost all 
the groups that they refer to it, to define which they have 
been obliged to separate as two distinct suborders the Hyraces 
and the Elephant (Hyracoidea and Proboscidea) from the 
Ungulata, which are as truly Bellu or thick-skinned animals 


432 Dr. J. E. Gray on Pigs and their Skulls. 


as any of the rest, and are at once known as such by any 
person who has an eye to the natural grouping of Mammalia. 

The division of the hoofed animals (Ungulata) into the 
Artiodactyla and the Perissodactyla has been regarded by 
many as an important discovery, especially by certain pale- 
ontologists; but if they had taken the trouble to read the 
history of zoology they would find that these terms are only 
Greek names for groups recognized and named in Latin by 
Ray, Latreille, and others. 

It is amusing but sad to see the various explanations and 
the different theories which are put forth to make the tapirs, 
that have four toes before and three behind, and the horse, that 
has only one toe, odd-toed Ungulates or Perissodactyla, like 
the rhinoceros, that has only three toes on each foot; and they 
have been obliged to put Hyrax and the elephant into a 
separate order, because it is rather difficult to explaim into 
which it ought to go (see Flower’s ‘Osteol. Mam.’ pp. 264-267, 
figs. 90-98). 

At the same time I do not at all underrate the importance 
of observing the structure and proportion of parts in the ar- 
rangement and definition of the minor groups. ‘Thus it would 
appear that the equality of the two middle toes, which repre- 
sent the middle and ring fingers of the human hand, is an im- 
portant character in the Pecora or ruminant animals, and in 
the pigs (Setifera) and the Obesa (Hippopotami); while the 
greater length and thickness of the middle toe, representing 
the middle tinger of the human hand, makes a modification in 
the form of the feet of these animals—especially as this toe is 
always present, while one or more of the side toes may be 
rudimentary or entirely absent, as may be expressed in the 
following table :— 


Toes of fore feet. Toes of hind feet. 


Or Se ee 1,2; 3,4, 5. . 2 2, SS 
ELD eve eptis soot 0, 2,3, 4,5. 0, 2, 3, 4,0 
DBAS ce sth ss anaes 0,.2,'3, 4, 5) ) 0) 253,450 
FRimoceros owe oss 0,2, 3,40... O 28740 
STAT open 0;-0; 3.05.0... 057855, 0:0 


Sometimes, as in the elephant, the middle toe is very little 
longer than the rest. 

The name Perzssodactyla has been given to the three latter 
genera; but I cannot conceive a slight difference in the propor- 
tion of these toes to be of ordinal importance. It isno doubt 
an important character in the definition of minor groups, but 
scarcely of higher importance, as having little influence on the 
habits and manners of the animals, and as separating groups 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Pigs and their Skulls. 433 


nearly allied to each other and haying the same habits and 
appearance. 

Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla are very good technical 
terms to define that form of the feet in which the middle finger 
is longer and thicker, and that in which the middle and ring 
fingers are equally thick—just as one might apply Chirodactyla 
to those animals that have the thumb-like great toe larger 
than the rest, and Ptychodactyla to those that have the outer 
and inner toes longer and stronger than the intermediate 
three, as in the hind feet of the seals. 

The real fact is that each group of animals has a peculiar 
kind of foot, that will not bend itself to human systems with- 
out being distorted to suit their authors’ views or theories. I 
think it is much better to take the facts as they are, and admit 
that in the bones of the feet, as in all other parts of the body, 
there is a network of affinities, not in a single line, but in 
various directions. 


* SETIGERA. 


Section A. Homopontina. The premolars permanent, forming with 
the molars a continuous series ; molars solid, with a tubercular 
crown. 


Subsection 1. Pseudoperissodactyla. Hinder feet with three toes ; 
the short external lateral toe of the hind feet wanting. Western 
Hemisphere or America. 


The two middle front toes of the fore and hind feet are of 
equal size, as in the pigs; and these animals are placed in the 
Artiodactyla, although they have an odd number of toes on 
the hind feet, which we are told are more to be depended upon 
than the front feet as giving a character of the group. It has 
been well observed that “ the attempt to define these groups 
will break down with the increase of our knowledge of fossil 
forms,” overlooking the fact that they did break down when 
the recent genera were properly studied. As regards number 
of toes they agree with the tapirs, which are referred to the 
Perissodactyla or odd-toed Ungulata. 

True pigs are found in America, but only in a domestic or 
semidomestic state, having been introduced from Europe or 


Asia. 
Family Dicotylide, Gray, Cat. B. M. p. 300. 


The sides of the skulls are dilated and much expanded in 
front of the orbit as far as the zygomatic arch. Both the 
peccary or tajacu and the taguicati (or white-lipped peccary) 
are at birth of a pale brown colour, not striped; and the 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 28 


434 Dr. J. E. Gray on Pigs and their Skulls. 


peccary has the white collar well marked in this stage, but 
it much sooner assumes its dark livery than the white-lipped 
peccary. 

This family contains only two recent species, Notophorus 
torquatus and Dicotyles labiatus. ‘The skulls of the two genera 
are very different, and are immediately known from one 
another—the skull of Notophorus having a groove of a vessel 
over the eye curved to the lateral margin, then bent back over 
the canines and continued to the end of the nose. In Dicotyles 
labiatus the groove of the vessel over the orbit is only continued 
to the lateral margin of the front of the zygomatic arch. It 
is to be observed that De Blainville, in his ‘Ostéographie,’ 
figures them both under the name of Sus torquatus, t. 11. & v. 


Subsection 2. Artiodactyla. ore and hind feet with four toes ; the 
lateral toe of each side much shorter. The Eastern Hemisphere, 
or Europe, Asia, and Africa. 


Family Suide. 


Head conical. Upper canines of the males elongate and 
more or less recurved, and enclosed in a bony sheath at the 


base. Teeth 40-44; cutting-teeth +}; premolars $3 or #4 


3.3 3 4.4 

Teats ten, rarely eight. Skull with the sides of the nose in 

front of the orbit more or less deeply concave. Tail elongate. 

The males have a large thick canine and a longitudinal ridge 

over the sheath of its base; this ridge is wanting in the 
females. 

The swine of the western hemisphere have four toes on the 


front and hind feet. 


Tribe I. Poramocua@rrna. 

Ears elongate, attenuated and pencilled at the end. The 
concavity in front of the orbit without any ridge on the 
lower part from the front of the zygomatic arch. ‘The sheath 
of the upper canines expanded out, of the males largest and 
with a ridge across its upper surface, of the females often 
bent up at the outer margin. 


1. PorAmocuarus. Africa. 


Tribe II. Svzwva. 


Ears rounded, in the domestic state elongate, drooping, not 
pencilled at the end. The concavity in the skull in front of 
the orbit with a ridge on the lower part from the front of the 


zygomatic arch. Cutting-teeth +3. The front grinders close 
to the back of the upper canine, which in the males is bent 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Pigs andi thets Skulls. 435 


upwards and outwards. The sheath of the upper canine of 
the males is spread out, with a ridge or crest across its 
upper surface ; that of the females is often slightly bent up at 
the end. , 


Wild Swine. Ears moderate, hairy. 


1. Eunys. 


Head elongate, twice as long as high at the occiput. Cheeks 
and throat covered with long projecting hairs. Lower canines 
of the males elongate, slender, convex on the sides and rounded 
in front. The front false grinders near the base of the canines 
separated from the other grinders by a rather broad diastema. 
Sheath of the upper canines in the males with an elongated 
ridge, which has a straight top. 


Euhys barbatus. 
Sus barbatus, Miiller. 


"2. AULACOCHGRUS. 


Head conical, about once and a half as long as high at the 
occiput. Male, the upper canines keeled in front with a 
very high keel across the base of the sheath; the lower 
canines triangular, flat on the sides, and keeled in front. 


Aulacocherus vittatus. 


Head, body, and legs covered with black bristles ; bristles 
of forehead and neck white-tipped; streak round angle of 
mouth and lower part of cheek white. 


Sus vittatus, Miller. 


3. DASYCHGRUS. 


Head elongate conical, more than once and a half the length 
of its height at the occiput. Nose with a large flat-topped 
wart on each side over the angle of the mouth, with a tuft of 
elongate pale bristles on the lower part of each cheek. Males 
with a compressed ridge across the sheath of the upper canines ; 
lower canines triangular, flat on the outer side and keeled in 
front. Black, with a tuft of yellow hair on each side of the 
jowl. 


Dasycherus verrucosus, 
Head nearly twice as long as high at the occiput. Black, 
underside and front of thighs pale. 
Sus verrucosus, Miiller. 


28* 


436 Dr. J. E. Gray on Pigs and their Skulls. 


Dasycherus celebensis. 


Head about once and a half as long as high at the occiput. 
Animal black below. 


Ay Ds. 


Head conical, about once and a half as long as high at the 
condyles, without any or only a very small wart on the side 
of the head. ars ovate. ‘The upper canines of the males 
recurved, with a more or less keeled ridge across the sheath at 
their base ; lower canines of the males triangular, flat on the 
outer side, and keeled in front. 


Sus scrofa. 
Hab. Europe. And other species. 


Sus mystaceus, n. sp. 


Brown, with scattered black bristles on the muzzle, forehead, 
sides of cheek, and sides of body; crest and hinder part of 
body browner ; streak on each side of nose and over angle of 
mouth elongate ; whiskers (on the black cheeks), gullet, throat, 
chest, front of shoulders, thighs, and underside of body whitish. 

Skull: concavity on the sides broad and deep, only separated 
from the orbits by a very narrow ridge; the sheath of the 
upper canines with a keeled ridge, and convex on the outside 
of it. 

From the Zoological Gardens. Said to have come from 
Java; but [ think that very doubtful. It is not like any 
of the animals described by the Dutch zoologists. 


Domestic Swine. Ears more or less dependent, often very large. 
ScROFA. 


Scrofa domestica. 


CENTURIOSUS. 
Centuriosus pliciceps. 


Tribe II]. Bazrevssra. 


Ears rounded, not pencilled at the end. Cutting-teeth = ; 
the front grinders separated from the upper canines by a long 
diastema. Upper and lower canines of the male much elongated 
and recurved ; the sheath of the upper canines elongate, arising 
from the outer side of the margin of the upper jaw, and closely 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Pigs and their Skulls. 437 


applied to, but separate from, the,side of the nose, without 
any or only a very slight indication of a cross ridge ; not de- 
veloped in the females, and its usual situation indicated by 
a sharp-edged-tidge just above the lower margin of the upper 
jaw in front of the grinders. The males have a deep concavity 
on each side of the roof of the hinder upper part of the 
inner nostrils; in the females this part is only slightly 
concave. I cannot find any exit from these pits, which are 
very deep. 

Blainville figures the skeleton of a female and gives a cross 
section of its skull, and also the skull of a male. He re- 
presents the canine tooth of the female as just appearing 
out of a very short sheath on the side of the upper jaw, con- 
siderably above the lower edge. It probably may be the 
skeleton of a young male; at least the skull in the museum, 
said to be a female, does not show any indication of the 
canine. 

The bulle of the ears are oblong and elongate. No such 
concavity exists in fhe back of the nasal cavity in any of the 
pigs that I have examined; but there is a deep pit on each 
side of the centre of the hinder part of the nasal cavity in 
Phacocherus, which is small in the young and larger in the 
more adult skulls. In the adult skulls there is a very deep 
concavity on each side of the roof of the inner nostrils in front 
of these pits, which are separated from each other by a thin, 
erect, longitudinal plate. These concavities are scarcely per- 
ceptible in the skulls of the very young animals. 

The bulle of the ears of the skulls of the very young Pha- 
cocherus are large, nearly hemispherical, and very prominent ; 
but in the adult skulls they are small and scarcely separated 
from the rest of the skull. 


BABIRUSSA. 

Canines of the males elongate, convex at the sides, the 
lower ones rounded, scarcely keeled in front; of the females, 
wanting in the upper jaw, and only short, conical, and slightly 
recurved in the lower. 


Babirussa alfurus. 

The skulls of the adult males present two very distinct 
varieties. In one the upper and lower canines are very long 
and gradually arched; in the other the upper and lower 
canines are short, not more than three inches long, the 
upper ones being very much curved, sometimes nearly into a 
circle. 


438 Dr. J. E. Gray on Pigs and their Skulls. 


Section B. Evropontrna. Premolars deciduous, their places being 
filled up by the development of the molars ; molars formed of 
lamine, many-rooted. 


Family Phacocheride. 


PHACOCHERUS. 


Zygomatic arch very broad, with only a very slight broad 
concavity in front of the orbit. Lower canines triangular ; the 
upper canines bent upwards and outwards, very large and 
thick, with a ridge across their sheath as in the Suide, but in 
both sexes. Lower canines flat on the outer sides and keeled 
in front. The sheath of the upper canines with a very obscure 
ridge across the middle in skulls said to belong to the two 
sexes which were living in the Zoological Gardens. The 
sheath and upper canines of the females are rather smaller and 
more elongate than those of the males. 


Phacocherus cethiopicus. 
Phacocherus A‘liani, Riippell. 


Phacocherus Sclateri, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 
1870. 


Phacocherus Athani and P. africanus, Sclater. 


Dr. Sclater described a young female African pig, with very 
small canines and small ovate ears with short hair, in the 
Zoological Gardens, as distinct from P. ethiopicus, under the 
name of P. Aliant (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1869, pp. 276, 277, 
fig. head, & t. xx. animal). In the ‘List of Vertebrate 
Animals in the Zoological Gardens,’ 1872, p. 83, the figure 
of the head is repeated as that of the young of “P. africanus, 
Gmelin,” with the English name of “Adlian’s Wart-hog.” 
Gmelin established Sus africanus on the “Sanglier du Cap 
Vert” of Buffon (xiv. p. 209, xv. p. 148), and on the ‘‘Cape- 
Verd Hog” in Pennant’s ‘History of Quadrupeds,’ vol. 1. 
p- 146, which was established from Buffon’s description and 
from a head in the Leverian Museum; and he adds to 
Buffon’s description that the ears are ‘narrow, upright, 
pointed, and tufted with very long bristles.” Buffon only 
describes the skull, tail, and hoofs of this animal, but says 
it has two teeth in the upper jaw, and says nothing about its 
ears. 

The animal described and figured by Dr. Sclater is_ still 
living in the gardens, and no longer has small short canines ; 
they have become elongate, conical, and bent upwards, like the 


Dr. J. E. Gray on Pigs and their Skulls. 439 


canines of the female Phacocherus cthiopicus, which, as 
Riippell and Sundevall say and the specimen in the museum 
proves, are very like those of the male, only they are smaller 
and more elongate. 

There is askull of this pig in the British Museum from the 
Cape-Verd Islands, which is exactly like the skulls of the 
other Phacocherus ethiopicus. 

If the animal is to be distinguished from the common Pha- 
cocherus cethiopicus by the small size and oval form of and 
short hair on its ears, it is not the Cape-Verd hog of Buffon 
and certainly not of Pennant, from which Gmelin described 
Sus africanus. Indeed it is very probable that the head which 
Pennant described from the Cape of Good Hope in the Leverian 
Museum, which he says has the ears ‘narrow, upright, pointed, 
and tufted with very long bristles,’ was the head of the common 
African pig (Potamocherus africanus), peculiar for having 
“narrow elongate ears, with tufts at the end,’—and that his 
description is made up of two genera; for Buffon’s description 
of the skull of the ¢Sanglier du Cap Vert” is evidently that 
of a Phacocherus, and, I believe, of P. cethiopicus with broad 
hairy ears, because that animal always has two cutting-teeth 
in its upper jaw in the very young state, and there is no doubt 
that one or both drop out before the animal arrives at maturity, 
and their presence or absence is a mere accident, and not a 
specific character. 

It cannot be Atlian’s Phacochcere (Phacocherus Ailiant of 
Riippell), as that was first described and figured as having 
(and the typical specimen that is in the British Museum has) 
large, broad, hairy ears, like the figure of the male given by 
Dr. Sclater as the type of Phacochwrus cethiopicus. 

If the animal in the Zoological Gardens does not as it grows 
older have the ears become broader and more hairy, like the 
ears in the adult male and female Phacocherus wethiopicus, it 
must be a distinct species, to which my name of Phacocherus 
Sclatert will have to be given. 

See Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1870, vi. pp. 189,264, 455, and 
1871, vii. p. 138. See also Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850, p. 78, t.xvii., 
where two young animals, then in the Zoological Gardens, 
from Natal, with small oval ears, are noticed and figured ; 
they were said to be fifteen months old. But can these be the 
animals that were afterwards called in the Gardens Phacocherus 
ethiopicus, and had large hairy ears ? 


440 On the Appearance of Danais Archippus in Australia. 


LI.—Note on the Appearance in Australia of the Danais 
Archippus. By Freprrick M‘Coy, Professor of Natural 
Science in the Melbourne University, and Director of the 
National Museum of Victoria, &c. 


Tuis fine butterfly was sent to me about December 1870 from 
Lord Howe’s Island, on the north-east coast of Australia, by 
a collector for the museum who was wrecked there ; but as I 
had never seen it in any of the North-Australian, or Queens- 
land, or New-South-Wales collections, and knew it to be an 
inhabitant of the Southern States of America, I suspected that 
the specimen might have been obtained from some collector 
on board some American ship in those seas. A few months 
after, a specimen was sent to me by a collector established on 
the Clarence River, in New South Wales, as something he 
had not seen before, and another friend fond of insects, travelling 
in the far north of the continent, also sent me an example as 
something strange. As there were no exact accounts of the 
actual capture of these specimens, I fancied they all might 
have come from some one American source, and paid little 
attention to the matter. On the last Sunday in April last (or 
about a year and five months after) I was walking in my 
garden at Brighton, a place on the sea-shore about eight miles 
south of Melbourne, and was astonished to see that a larger 
butterfly, with a more bat-like flight than any inhabitant of 
the colony, which attracted my attention amongst the flower- 
buds, was the Danais Archippus ; and presently the two sexes 
were seen. Being Sunday they escaped; but next morning, 
going through the grounds of the University on the north 
side of Melbourne to the Museum to make the teeth water 
of my assistant (who had collected Lepidoptera for twenty 
years. in Victoria) by mentioning what I had seen, I ob- 
served two more before me, and on going to my room found 
the collector in a great state of excitement at having caught 
one in my botanic garden in the University grounds, and 
having the previous day seen one five miles south of Brighton. 
So that the insect had made its appearance for the first time 
in the colony simultaneously at places fourteen miles apart, and 
with no community of character or vegetation—Brighton and 
to the south being a sandy bush in a state of nature, with 
houses few and far between, each surrounded by several acres 
of land, while about the University is a clay soil, densely 
populated. On the three following Sundays I saw two or 
three specimens in fine condition, which could not, therefore, 
have been those seen at first ; and last week I saw some in the 
street leading to the University ; and on the same day the col- 


Mr. F. Smith on new Species of Fossorial Hymenoptera. 441 


lector came across them at the Treasury, situated at the oppo- 
site side of the city. The specimens vary a little in the width 
of the black border and the number of the white spots in it, 
but to no greater extent than in the American specimens with 
which I compared them. 

This sudden American invasion of the whole continent 
seems worth recording. 


Melbourne, March 26, 1873. 


LIl.—Descriptions of new Species of Fossorial Hymenoptera 
in the Collection of the British Museum. By FREDERICK 
SmitH, Assistant in the Zoological Department, British 
Museum. 


THE species described in the present paper were collected by 
Mr. H. W. Bates in the Amazons Valley, in Brazil, and 
formed part of his private collection ; they were purchased by 
the Trustees of the British Museum, and are nearly all unique 
in the National Collection. The most valuable additions made 
to the Fossorial tribe are the species now added to the following 
genera :—to Ceropales four species, to Aporus three, to Ampulex 
one, to Trigonopsis two, and to Trachypus two; many new 
and beautiful additions are made to the Pompilide, Larride, 
Crabronide, and the Philanthidee. 


Tribe Fossores, Latr. 
Family Pompilide. 
Genus Pompi.us, Fabr. 


Pompilus fervidus. 


Female. Length 7 lines. Ferruginous, with the wings 
fuscous. Head: the eyes, ocelli, tips of the mandibles, and 
the seven apical joints of the antenne, as well as the eighth 
joint above, black. Thorax: the posterior margin of the pro- 
thorax, the tegule, postscutellum, and the posterior margin 
of the metathorax yellow; the wings dark fuscous and iri- 
descent, with their apical margins and hinder margin of the 
posterior pair paler; the tibie and tarsi with ferrugimous 
spines. Abdomen with the apical margins of the segments 
bordered with fusco-ferruginous bands, indistinctly defined. 


Hab. Paya. 


442 Mr. F. Smith on new Species 


Pompilus decedens. 


Female. Length 93 lines. Head, thorax, legs, and base of 
the abdomen yellow, the rest of the latter black. The antenne 
reddish yellow, with the six apical joints fuscous; the eyes 
black at their outer margins; the tips of the mandibles black. 
Thorax of a reddish yellow above; the metathorax, tegule, 
the scutellum at the sides, the postscutellum, and the posterior 
margin of the metathorax paler, the latter being yellowish 
white ; legs reddish, with a line on the posterior femora, within, 
and the posterior tarsi black; wings flavo-hyaline, palest at 
their apical margins, the nervures ferruginous; the costal 
nervure fuscous. Abdomen: above black at the extreme base ; 
the rest of the first segment reddish yellow, and with a pale 
spot next to the black base ; the second segment at its base, 
as well as the third, has a yellow fascia, the latter narrowest 
and attenuated in the middle; the second segment reddish 
yellow, with two large black macule, which occupy nearly the 
entire segment, except a central line and the apical and lateral 
margins; beneath, the three basal segments are pale yellow, 
except the apical margin of the third, which is black. 

Hab. Para. 


Pompilus diversa. 


Female. Length 5-6 lines. Black, variegated with silvery 
pile ; wings hyaline, with two transverse fuscous fascie. Head : 
the face covered with silvery pile, in very fresh examples it has 
a golden lustre; the anterior margin of the clypeus, which is 
transverse, more or less obscurely ferruginous ; the mandibles 
ferruginous at their apex and the palpi of the same colour, but 
paler; the head is wider than the thorax; the antenne fulvous 
towards their apex, sometimes obscurely so. Thorax: the 
posterior margin of the prothorax angulated ; a silvery spot on 
each side of the scutellum close to the lateral margins, and the 
metathorax silvery at its apex, which is rounded ; an impressed 
line extends from the base to the apex of the metathorax; in 
small specimens the legs are obscurely ferruginous beneath. 
Abdomen: the basal margins of the segments more or less 
ornamented with silvery pile, glittering brightly in certain 
lights. 

Male. Length 5 lines. Of a much more slender form than 
the female, and more brightly decorated with silvery pile ; the 
face, cox, and abdomen at its base very bright ; the basal seg- 
ment much attenuated; the legs elongate, slender, and spinose. 


Hab. Kuga; Para. 


A series of specimens of this species, on being carefully 


of Fossorial Hymenoptera. 443 


examined, show that in all probability, on the insect being 
freshly disclosed, the disk of the mesothorax is covered with 
pale golden pile; some examples have traces of it. 


Pompilus varietatis. 

Female. Length 4-53 lines. Black; the thorax and abdomen 
more or less maculated with minute yellow spots. Head rather 
wider than the thorax; the anterior margin of the clypeus 
widely truncate; the palpi pale testaceous ; the antenne fulvous 
beneath. Thorax: the posterior margin of the prothorax 
arcuate, and frequently bordered with yellow ; the mesothorax, 
in some examples, with two very narrow longitudinal yellow 
lines} a minute spot on each side of the scutellum, the post- 
scutellum, two longitudinal lines on the metathorax, and its 
posterior margin yellow ; the extreme apex of the coxe, tro- 
chanters, femora, and of the anterior tibie rufo-testaceous ; 
the calcaria and spines on the tibiz and tarsi pale rufo-testa- 
ceous; the anterior half of the fore wings dark fuscous; the 
anterior margin of the posterior pair with a slight fuscous tint. 
Abdomen covered with a fine glossy cinereous pile; the basal 
segment with two yellow circular spots ; in some examples the 
spots are larger and of an irregular shape, and form a large 
only slightly interrupted transverse macula; in other ex- 
amples there is a minute spot at the extreme lateral basal 
margins of the second and third segments. 

Hab. St. Paulo; Ega; Para (Amazons). 


All the varieties received are described ; but probably others 
exist. The longitudinal lines on the metathorax are in different 
examples more or less obsolete, sometimes entirely so. The 
smaller specimens appear to be the most highly coloured. 


* 
Pompilus vividus. 


Male. Length 5 lines. Black, and covered with silvery 
pile, which is most dense on the face, coxe, femora beneath, 
and also on the three basal segments of the abdomen beneath, 
the other segments being black. The posterior margin of the 
prothorax with a white band, which is slightly interrupted in 
the middle ; the wings hyaline, the anterior pair with a dark 
fuscous cloud, which extends to the base of the marginal cell ; 
a narrow fuscous fascia crosses the wing at the apex of the 
externo-median cell; a space at the base of the metathorax 
black, being without a covering of pile; a portion of the apical 
margins of the three basal segments of the abdomen black and 
without pile, the third margin narrowest ; the anterior tibie 


444 Mr. F. Smith on new Species 


and tarsi slightly, and the intermediate and posterior pairs very 
spinose. 
Hab. Santarem. 


Pompilus detectus. 
Male. Length 53 lines. Black, abdomen partly red, and 


with dark fuscous wings. The face with a covering of silvery 
pile ; the clypeus widely truncate, the lateral angles rounded, 
and having a brownish pile. The posterior margin of the 
prothorax arcuate and with a yellow border, somewhat obscure ; 
the metathorax smooth, covered with brownish pile, and of a 
blue tinge in certain lights ; the wings slightly iridescent in 
some positions. Abdomen: the three basal segments ferru- 
ginous, and the basal margin of the fourth narrowly so; the 
four apical segments with a thin cinereous pile. 
Hab. Santarem. 


Pompilus vitabilis. 


Female. Length 5 lines. Head and thorax black, the 
abdomen blue-black ; the wings dark fuscous, with a splendid 
violet iridescence, which varies to purple in certain lights. 
The face covered with silvery pile; the anterior margin of the 
clypeus sinuated; the apex of the mandibles ferruginous. 
Thorax : above, in certain lights, with more or less of a blue 
tinge, particularly the metathorax, which is smooth and opaque. 
Abdomen subpetiolate; the apical portion of the fourth segment, 
and the fifth and sixth and seventh entirely, covered with a 
thin cinereous pubescence; the abdomen beneath, as well as 
the coxe and femora, covered with a changeable silvery pile. 


Hab. Para. 


Pompilus exclusus. 


Male. Length 5} lines. Blue, with green tints in certain 
lights ; wings dark fuscous ; antenne, mandibles, and clypeus 
black, the latter widely truncate. ‘The posterior margin of 
the prothorax angulate ; the metathorax smooth and rounded 
posteriorly ; the wings have a violet and purple iridescence ; 
the first submarginal cell as long as the two following; the 
second cell subquadrate, receiving the recurrent nervure near 
its apex; the third submarginal cell much restricted towards 
the marginal cell. Abdomen of a bright blue-green. 

Hab, Para. 


Pompilus tratus. 
Male. Length 49 lmes. Head and thorax black, with yellow 


of Fossorial Hymenoptera. 445 


markings; abdomen red. The head and thorax covered with 
short cinereous pile ; the scape of the antenne yellow in front, 
and covered with cinereous pile ; the flagellum fulvous beneath 
and fuscous above. Thorax: the tegule and posterior margin 
of the prothorax broadly yellow ; wings hyaline, and with a 
dark fuscous cloud beyond the third submarginal cell, the 
nervures dark fuscous; the posterior tibia, their apical cal- 
caria and their tarsi, as well as the intermediate pair and the 
spurs of the tibie, pale yellowish white; the tips of the tarsal 
joints and of the posterior tibiz black, as are also their spines. 
Abdomen ferruginous, with cinereous bands at the base of the 
segments. 


Hab. Paya. 


Pompilus conterminus. 


Female. Length 53 lines. Black, with a broad yellow fascia 
on the abdomen, and hyaline wings. Head: a narrow line 
behind the eyesand a broader one at their inner orbits yellowish 
white ; the clypeus, covered with silvery pile. The thorax, 
coxe, and femora, as well as the base of the abdomen, with a 
coating of silvery pile; the posterior margin of the prothorax, 
which is arcuate, with a narrow yellow fascia; wings hyaline, 
their nervures fuscous, and the anterior pair with a fuscous 
cloud beyond the third submarginal cell, covering the apex of 
the wing; the intermediate femora at their apex, and the 
posterior pair as well as the tibie, ferruginous. Abdomen : 
the basal segment covered with silvery pile; a broad yellow 
fascia at the base of the third segment, slightiy narrowed in 
the middle. 

Hab. Para. 

Genus AGENIA, Schiddte. 
Agenia agitata. 

Female. Length 3-4 lines. Black; wings hyaline, with 
a fuscous macula; the abdomen petiolated. Covered with 
a thin slate-coloured sericeous pile; on the face, coxe, and 
posterior portion of the metathorax it is silvery. The man- 
dibles ferruginous at their apex; in small examples the 
apical margin of the clypeus is testaceous ; the antennz fulvous 
beneath, brightest in small examples. Thorax: the posterior 
margin of the prothorax arcuate ; wings clear hyaline, with a 
fuscous cloud occupying the second submarginal cell, and 
usually extending more or less into the third discoidal cell ; 
the third submarginal cell twice as long as the second and 
slightly restricted towards the marginal one; the anterior 
tibiee and tarsi, and all the calcaria that arm the apex of the 


446 Mr. F. Smith on new Species 


tibie, rufo-testaceous ; these are palest in small examples. 
Abdomen with a short petiole at its base. 
Hab. Para; Ega; Santarem. 


Agenia multipicta. 

Male. Length 6} lines. Black ; the head and thorax spotted 
and striped with pale yellow. Head: the labrum, clypeus, 
scape in front, a broad stripe on each side of the face, and a 
narrow line behind the eyes pale yellow. Thorax: the 
posterior margin of the prothorax, the outer margin of the 
tegule, a stripe over the tegule, an ovate spot before the scu- 
tellum and a larger one on it, the postscutellum, three spots at 
the base of the metathorax, and its apical portion pale yellow ; 
wings flavo-hyaline; the nervures black, with a fuscous cloud 
over the marginal and two submarginal cells, and from them 
to the apex of the wings ; the anterior coxe in front, a stripe 
on the inner margin of the intermediate pair, and on both 
margins of the posterior ones pale yellow ; the posterior femora 
yellow beneath. Abdomen subsericeous, and with a blue 
tinge ; its apical segment pale. 

Hab. Para. 

It is probable that the yellow markings will be found to be 
more vivid insome examples. The unique one in the Museum 
collection is mutilated, and the wings are ragged at their 
apical margins ; it is probable that it had been long disclosed 
at the time of its capture. 


Agenia gloriosa. 

Male. Length 73 lines. Black, and covered with a bright 
golden pile, exceedingly brilliant in certain lights. Head: 
the anterior margin of the clypeus sinuate ; the sixth, seventh, 
and eighth joints of the antennz orange-yellow. Thorax: the 
wings flavo-hyaline, with a faint cloud in the marginal, second 
submarginal, and over the apex of the third discoidal cell ; 
the tips of all the wings faintly clouded; the legs without 
golden pile, except the coxe, which are brightly adorned. 
Abdomen petiolate. 

Hab. Paya. 


Agenia comparata. 


Female. Length 5 lines. Black ; wings hyaline ; posterior 
femora ferruginous. The insect covered with fine hoary pile ; 
on the clypeus and sides of the thorax it has a silvery lustre ; 
the cheeks, sides of the thorax, and the metathorax with a 
long thin white pubescence ; the palpi testaceous. ‘Thorax: 


of Fossorial Hymenoptera. 447 


the posterior margin of the prothorax arcuate; the tarsi 

obscure ferruginous ; the nervures of the wings nearly black ; 

the wings iridescent. Abdomen petiolated ; the apical margin 

of the second and following segments narrowly testaceous. 
Hab. Paya. 


Agenia ceeruleocephala. 


Female. Length 5 lines. Head and thorax blue, exhibiting 
tints of purple, green, and violet in certain lights; abdomen 
ferruginous. Head purple, covered with silvery pile below 
the insertion of the antennz; the mandibles, palpi, and scape 
of the antenne beneath pale testaceous ; the flagellum fulvous 
beneath. Thorax: the posterior margin of the prothorax 
subarigular, and bordered with silvery pile; the sides of the 
thorax silvery ; the metathorax with a central longitudinal 
impressed line, which widens towards the apex ; wings hyaline 
and iridescent, the nervures ferruginous; legs ferruginous. 
Abdomen petiolated ; the base of the petiole blue. 

Hab. Para; St. Paulo. 


Agenia deceptor. 


Female. Length 4 lines. Pale ferruginous, abdomen darkest, 
with the vertex and thorax above dark fuscous. Head: 
above the insertion of the antenne nigro-zneous, and with a 
pale stripe at the margin of the eyes; the apical half of the 
antenne fuscous above. Thorax: the posterior margin of 
the prothorax arcuate, and bordered with a pale ferruginous 
band; the postscutellum, tegule, and apex of the metathorax 
pale ferruginous ; wings hyaline, the superior pair with their 
anterior margin slightly fuscous. Abdomen petiolated. 


Hab. Para. 


Agenia timida. 


Male. Length 3} lines. Head and thorax blue; abdomen 
black, with the petiole ferruginous. Head wider than the 
thorax; the face and clypeus silvery; the margins of the 
clypeus, apex of the mandibles, palpi, inner orbits of the eyes 
not as high as their vertex, and the scape of the antenne in 
front very pale ferruginous. The posterior margin of the 
prothorax arcuate; the metathorax with a central longitudinal 
depression, and the sides with silvery pubescence; wings 
hyaline and iridescent, the nervures and tegule testaceous ; 
the legs ferruginous, the apical joints of the anterior and in- 
termediate pairs, and the posterior pair entirely, as well as the 
apex of the tibize, fuscous. Abdomen: the petiole and basal 


448 Mr. F. Smith on new Spectes 


margin of the second segment ferruginous ; the apical segment 
white. 


Hab. Para. 


Agenia reversa. 


Female. Length 33 lines. Ferruginous, with the anterior 
wings, beyond the second submarginal cell, dark brown. 
Head rather wider than the thorax ; the three basal joints, and 
a portion of the fourth, of the antennz ferruginous, the rest 
black; the joints of the antenne widest at their base, most 
obviously so when viewed on the underside; the scape of the 
antenne beneath, the lower portion of the inner orbits of the 
eyes, the clypeus, labrum, mandibles, and palpi white. 
Thorax: the prothorax transverse, narrow, and very slightly 
curved ; the anterior cox white beneath; the posterior tarsi 
fuscous. Abdomen narrow, and acuminate both at the base 
and the apex. 

Hab. Para. 


This species is very remarkable in having the base of the 
antennal joints wider than their apex; in this particular it 
agrees with the male of the British and European species, 
Agenia variegata. 


Agenia gracilenta. 

Male. Length 3 lines. Black, covered with hoary pile; 
wings hyaline ; the base of the second segment of the abdomen 
yellow. Head: the mandibles and palpi pale testaceous ; a line 
on the scape of the antenne and the third joint yellow beneath ; 
three or four of the following joints obscurely ferruginous. 
The posterior margin of the prothorax arcuate; the anterior 
femora in front, the tibize and tarsi, the tips of the inter- 
mediate femora, and the tibize rufo-testaceous ; the calcaria at 
the apex of all the tibiee white ; wings hyaline and iridescent, 
their tegule testaceous, the nervures fuscous ; a faint cloud in 
the second submarginal cell, and extending over the apical 
portion of the third discoidal one ; there is also a slight fuscous 
stain at the apex of the externo-median cell. The first segment 


of the abdomen forming a petiole, which is pale beneath. 
Hab. Para. 


Agenia modesta. 


Male. Length 34 lines. Black, the legs variegated with 
white; the abdomen fuscous at the base, and with a white 
fascia, which covers the apical margin of the first segment 
very narrowly, and a broader portion of the base of the second 
segment; the apical segment also white. Head: the scape 


of Fossorial Hymenoptera. 449 


of the antenne in front, the clypeus, mandibles, and palpi 
white; the coxe, anterior legs, and the base of all the tibiz 
white ; the wings hyaline and iridescent; the tegule testa- 
ceous, a fuscous cloud occupying the marginal and second 
and third submarginal cells ; the prothorax with a white fascia 
on its posterior margin. Abdomen: the three basal segments 
white beneath. 


Hab. Para. 


Agenia ordinaria. 

Female. Length 53 lines. Black, with the abdomen red, 
and anterior wings fuscous. Head: a pale abbreviated line 
at the inner orbits of the eyes; the palpi also pale. Thorax: 
the posterior margin of the prothorax arcuate ; the metathorax 
narrowed to, and truncate at, the apex; the third submarginal 
cell nearly twice as wide as the second, and much narrowed 
towards the marginal cell; the posterior wings hyaline and 
beautifully iridescent. The extreme base of the abdomen 
black. The entire msect covered with a thin hoary pile. 

Hab. Santarem. 


Agenia aureicornis. 

Female. Length 8? lines. The head and thorax olive-green 5 
the abdomen blue ; the wings with two fuscous fascia. Head: 
the clypeus with a changeable silvery pile; the scape of the 
antenne in front, and the five apical joints of the antenne, 
bright orange-yellow ; the rest of the joints obscure fulvous 
beneath. Thorax: the first fascia crosses the anterior wings 
at the apex of the externo-median cell and the base of the 
first submarginal, the second from the base of the marginal. 
Abdomen smooth and shining, and thinly covered with hoary 
pile ; a few long black hairs at its apex. 

Hab. Santarem. 


Agenia graiiosa. 

Female, Length 4 lines. Green, with the anterior margin 
of the fore wings narrowly fuscous. Head a little wider than 
the thorax ; the lower part of the face and the clypeus covered 
with silvery pile; the antenne fulvous beneath and fuscous 
above; mandibles ferruginous towards their apex, and the 
palpi pale testaceous. ‘Thorax: the posterior margin of the 
prothorax, and the base, sides, and apex of the metathorax, with 
short glittering silvery pubescence ; wings hyaline, the fuscous 
stain covering the marginal, first and second submarginal cells, 
and extending at each end a little way beyond ; the nervures 


pale testaceous, with those towards the margin of the anterior 
Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser.4. Vol. xi. 29 


450 On new Species of Fossorial Hymenoptera. 


wings fuscous ; legs pale ferruginous, with the cox, and femora 
above, green, the outside of the tibiz more or less tinted with 
green, and the apical joints of the tarsi fuscous. Abdomen 
petiolated, smooth, and shining. 

Hab. ga. 


Agenia tarsata. 


Female. Length 4 lines. Green; legs ferruginous, with 
the tarsi of the intermediate and posterior legs black. Head 
a little wider than the thorax ; the clypeus and lower part of 
the face silvery; the apex of the mandibles, the palpi, and 
scape in front pale ferruginous ; the flagellum fulvous beneath. 
Thorax: the sides and the metathorax with a changeable 
silvery pubescence; wings hyaline, nervures ferruginous. 
Abdomen petiolate, shining, and covered with a thin hoary 
pile. 

Hab. Ega. 


Agenia letabilis. 


Female. Length 7 lines. Black ; wings subhyaline, with a 
brown spot at their apex; abdomen with ferruginous spots. 
Head and thorax thinly covered with hoary pile; the legs 
stout and destitute of spines; the metathorax rounded; wings 
subhyaline, and with a fuscous spot at the apex of the anterior 
pair, which extends from the base of the third submarginal cell 
to the apex of the wing. Abdomen: a large ferruginous spot 
on each side of the first and second segments, those on the 
second nearly uniting; the fourth (except its extreme base) 
and the two following ferruginous. 

Hab. Para. 


Agenia fortipes. 

Male. Length 6 lines. Black, with dark brown wings. 
The face covered with silvery pubescence, brilliant in certain 
lights ; the clypeus widely truncate. The thorax has on the 
sides and beneath a thin hoary pubescence ; the prothorax, 
margins of the mesothorax and of the metathorax with a bright 
silvery pile; the coxe are adorned in the same way, but it is 
only observable in certain lights ; the wings have violet, purple, 
and coppery iridescence. Abdomen petiolate, and with an 
obscure blue tinge; the three apical segments have a thin, 


hoary, short pubescence. 
Hab. Paya. 


Agenia conspicua. 
Female. Length 5 lines. Black; wings subhyaline and 


On “a New Classification of Ammonites.” 451 


clouded; abdomen variegated with,white and yellow. Head 
scarcely as wide as the thorax, and both covered with silky 
white pile; the palpi pale testaceous. The posterior margin 
of the prothorax arcuate; the metathorax longitudinally de- 
pressed ; the wings fusco-hyaline, a darker cloud occupying 
the marginal and second and third submarginal cells; the 
anterior legs in front and their tarsi ferruginous. Abdomen 
subsessile, having a fine silky pile; the apical margins of the 
first and second segments, and the following segments entirely, 
reddish yellow ; a large pale yellowish-white macula on each 
side of the second segment. 


Hab. Para. 


Agenia cursor. 


Male. Length 51 lines. Black, with a fine silky pile ; legs 
elongate, the posterior pair longer than the insect; anterior 
wings dark fuscous, and having a clear hyaline space that 
occupies the three discoidal as well as the first apical cell. 
Head transverse, as ‘wide as the thorax; the face below the 
insertion of the antenne and the clypeus covered with silky 
pile. Thorax: the sides, beneath, and the apex of the meta- 
thorax silvery ; the anterior tibia beneath and the tarsi obscure 
ferruginous. Abdomen: the first segment forming a petiole 
which is longer than the metathorax ; the other segments have 
a blue tinge. 

Hab, Paya. 

[To be continued. } 


LIII.— Observations on M. Favre's Paper on a New Classi- , 
fication of Ammonites. By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


As to M. Keferstein’s theory that the Aptychus is ‘a pro- 
tecting organ of the nidamentary glands of the female Ammo- 
nite,’ which M. Favre considers certain—and he further goes 
on to say, “the soft tissue of this gland has a great resem- 
blance in its various parts to the structure of the different 
types of Aptychus, and the form .of the Aptychus corresponds 
very well with that of the outer part of this gland” (p. 366)— 
I do not offer any decided opinion on this extraordinary 
theory, as I have never studied the question; at the same 
time [ may observe that it is not supported by any thing I 
have observed in the structure or habits of recent Mollusca, 
and is, indeed, entirely opposite to all my experience as a 


student in the structure and development of shells. 
29* 


452 ) Dr. J. E. Gray on “a New 


A protecting organ.of a gland, or a gland itself, becoming 
shelly would be an entirely new fact in malacology ; and the 
notion should not be entertained without very strong reasons,* 
of which M. Favre gives none. 

All true shells are secreted by the mantle of the mollusk, 
and not by any other part of the animal. The operculum of 
Univalves, which is the analogue of the second valve in the 
Bivalves, has a peculiar mantle on the foot of the animal for 
its secretion; and when the operculum is formed of several 
layers (that is to say, when its inner and outer surfaces are 
covered with an additional calcareous coat) the outer coat is 
secreted by a peculiar lobe of the mantle, as the outer coat of 
the cowrie, Marginella, &c. is secreted; and I have no 
doubt that the outer coat of Aptychus is secreted by a lobe of 
the pedal mantle, like the outer coat of the operculum of 
Gasteropods. 

The only instance that has occurred to me of a body se- 
creted by a mollusk having the slightest resemblance to a shell, 
and yet not being secreted by the mantle of the animal, is 
that of the three shelly plates that encase the gizzard of Bulla 
lignaria and B. aperta. These plates are only the hardening of 
the cartilaginous tubercles that are found in the stomach of 
Aplysia and other allied genera, and have not the structure 
or texture of true shells ; they certainly bear no resemblance to 
the shells of Aptychus, which, as M. Favre describes them, 
have the regular texture of shells. 

The structure of the Aptychi that I have examined, as well 
eas the account of it given by M. Favre (p. 365), is quite the 
same as that observed in many opercula of Univalve shells. 

It certainly is against all my experience of fossil shells 
(which has been extensive) if the Aptychus is a fossil nida- 
mentary gland, or that a soft glandular part should be fos- 
silized so as to produce a body formed of three layers, each 
with a peculiar structure, and that the structure which they 
produce by becoming fossilized should be similar to the 
structure observed in opercula, which are often formed of three 
layers, as M. Favre describes them. The reasons which he 
gives that they cannot be opercula show M. Favre’s slight 
acquaintance with the structure and economy of living 
Mollusca ; for otherwise he would have known that the majority 
of opercula, although found in the aperture and protecting the 
animal, evidently ‘“ could not have served to close the aperture 
of the shell.”’ 

M. Favre observes :—‘ The shell of Nawtdlus is composed 
of two layers—an external layer formed of an aggregate of 
cells of different sizes, and the largest of which are those 


Classification of Ammonites.” 453 


nearest the outside (it forms the most important part of the 
shell properly so called, and M. Suess has named it ostracum), 
and an internal nacreous layer formed of very small cells, 
which constitutes the septa and lines the inner surface of the 
ostracum. The former ts secreted by the mantle ; the latter by 
the body of the animal.” 

Thirdly, he states, “The whole animal (of the Nautilus), 
the posterior part excepted, is therefore united to the shell, 
and the chamber is hermetically closed ;” and goes on to say, 
“the mantle extends in front of this attaching ring (/aft- 
ring) ; it is composed of two parts—one, which is very short, 
eorresponding to the antisiphonal region of the animal; the 
other, which is much longer, corresponds to the siphonal 
region, and secretes the shell, with which it is connected by 
its outer margin.” 

These observations come within my study; and I may 
observe that they are directly at variance with all my expe- 
rience in the structuye and growth of the shells or opercula 
of Mollusca, and appear to me only to be compared to the 
Swiss author, living in the centre of Europe, who described 
ships being built of brick. 

The Nauttlus-shell is composed of two layers, the outer 
chalky and opaque, the inner pearly : the outer is first formed, 
and forms the edge of the shell; the inner pearly layer is 
deposited on the inside of the outer as it is enlarged, the two 
going on part passu ; and both are deposited by the mantle of 
the animal, as all shells are deposited, and as may be seen both 
in the univalve Turbo and the bivalve Uniones or Avicule, 
which exactly agree with Nautilus in structure ; and I should 
like to know how the body of the bivalve got out of the 
large mantle to deposit the pearly layer of the inner surface 
of the shell, which is quite out of its reach and influence. It 
is quite a new fact to me that the whole animal of a mollusk 
should be united to the shell, and so hermetically close it; if 
true, it would require an entire change in the definition of 
Mollusea, which are always entirely free from the shell, and 
only attached to it by peculiar muscles; and I can vouch for 
this being the case in the Nautilus from the examination of 
several specimens preserved in spirit ; and, further, I can assure 
M. Favre that the edge of the mantle in these animals is 
quite free from the edge of the shell, and that the chambers 
of these shells are formed in the same way as the septa in 
other shells—as, for example, the septa across the vertex of 
Bulimus decurtatus and other decurtated shells. 

[ am willing to allow that there are things to be explained 
in regard to the formation of the septa and the siphons and 


454 Royal Society :-— 


the use of the Aptychus to the Ammonite ; but this is not to be 
settled by the wild theories of persons who are evidently de- 
ficient in elementary knowledge of the structure and economy 
of living Mollusca. This is one of the evils of the paleon- 
tologists (as they call themselves) considering paleontology 
a separate science, and confining their study to fossil bones, 
shells, &c., and not paying sufficient attention to the study 
of recent animals, instead of studying them as parts of the 
same subject, the former only to be explained by the latter— 
as Cuvier demonstrated in his ‘Ossemens Fossiles,’ by a 
careful study of the existing animals and their parts before he 
attempted to determine the fossils he then knew: instead of 
this we find the paleontologists describing and forming 
genera on mere fragments, and putting forth the wildest and 
most erroneous theories. If the recent and fossil species were 
studied together by the same person all this would be got rid 
of ; and we cannot expect that any reliable information as to 
the determination, structure, or distribution of fossils will be 
obtained until this course is adopted. One can have no con- 
fidence in paleontologists who describe numerous species and 
genera from fragments, when they fail in describing or deter- 
mining the osteology or conchology of recent species. 


PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
ROYAL SOCIETY. 


March 20, 1873.—Mr. George Busk, Vice-President, in the Chair. 


“On the Temperature at which Bacteria, Vibriones, and their 
Supposed Germs are killed when immersed in Fluids or exposed to 
Heat ina moist state.” By H. Caartron Basrtan, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., 
Professor of Pathological Anatomy in University College, London. 


For more reasons than one we may, perhaps, now look back 
with advantage upon the friendly controversy carried on rather 
more than a century ago between the learned and generous Abbé 
Spallanzani and our no less distinguished countryman Turberville 
Needham. Writing concerning his own relation to Needham, 
the Abbé said*, “I wish to deserve his esteem whilst combating 
his opinion;” and, in accordance with this sentiment, we find 
him treating his adversary’s views with great respect, and at the 
same time repudiating much of the empty and idle criticism in 
which so many of Needham’s contemporaries indulged with regard 


* Nouvelles Recherches sur les Découvertes Microscopiques et la Généra- 
tion des Corps Organisés, &c. London and Paris, 1769, vol. i. p. 69. 


On the Heat necessary to kill Bacteria &c. 455 


tohis work. This criticism, Spallanzanisays*, “‘ Without looking 
into details, contented itself by throwing doubt upon some of 
the facts, and by explaining after its own fashion others whose 
possibility it was ,willing to admit.” He moreover warmly re- 
probated the ignorant and disrespectful statements made by an 
anonymous writer who had shown himself little worthy of being 
heard upon the subjects in dispute. Spallanzani on this occasion 
very wisely said t:—‘ When it is a question concerning obser- 
vations and experiments, it is necessary to have repeated them 
with much circumspection before venturing to pronounce that 
they are doubtful or untrustworthy. He who will allow him- 
self to speak of them with contempt, and who can only attempt 
to refute them with writings composed by the glimmer derived 
from a treacherous lamp, will not find himself in a condition to 
retain the esteem of learned men.” The anonymous writer (in 
his ‘Lettres & un Américain’) to whom Spallanzani referred 
had gone so far as to doubt the statements of Needham as to 
the constant appearance of organisms in infusions which had 
been previously boiled, and also intimated that even if they were 
to be found, it was only because they had been enabled to resist 
the destructive influence of the boiling fluid. This latter asser- 
tion was emphatically denied by Spallanzani, his denial being 
based upon a most extensive series of experiments with eggs in 
great variety and with seeds of all degrees of hardness; these 
were all found to be killed by a very short contact with boiling 
water. Spallanzani had thoroughly satisfied himself that even 
very thick-coated seeds could not resist this destructive agent ; 
whilst he thought that the idea, entertained by some, of the eggs 
of the lowest infusoria being protected from the injurious influ- 
ence of the boiling water by reason of their extreme minuteness, 
was a supposition so improbable as scarcely to deserve serious con- 
sideration. Such a notion was, he thought, wholly opposed to 
what was known concerning the transmission of heat. Whilst, 
therefore, the opimion of those who believe that eggs have the 
power of resisting the destructive influence of boiling water could 
be fully refuted, Spallanzani thought it by no means followed 
that the infusoria which always, after a very short time, ap- 
peared in boiling infusions had arisen independently of the ex- 
istence of eggs. The infusions being freely exposed to the air, 
it was very possible that this air had introduced eggs into the 
fluids, which by their development had given birth to the infusoria +, 

After the lapse of a century it has at last been clearly shown 
that this supposition of aérial contamination advanced by Spallan- 
zani (warrantable and natural as it was at the time) is one 

* Loc. cit. p. 9. t Loc. cit. p. 114. 

t A few pages further on this view is thus shortly expressed :—‘ Il est 
évident que toutes les tentatives faites avec le feu, peuvent bien servir & prouver 
que les animaux microscopiques ne naissent point des ceufs que l’on supposait 
exister dans les infusions avant qu’on leur fit sentir le feu; mais cela n’empéche 


pas qwils n’aient pu étre formés de ceux qui auront été portés dans les vases 
aprés l’ébullition.” 


A56 Royal Society :— 


which, in the great majority of cases, is devoid of all foundation 
in fact, so far as concerns the organisms essentially associated 
with processes of putrefaction, viz. Bacteria and Vibriones. The 
means of proving this statement, based upon independent obser- 
vations made by Professor Burdon Sanderson and, myself, were 
recently submitted to the consideration of the Royal Society *. 
Before the reading of this communication I was under the im- 
pression that almost every one of those who had taken part in 
the controversies which had been carried on both here and abroad 
concerning the Origin of Life were prepared to admit, as Spallan- 
zani had done, that the eggs or germs of such organisms as appear 
in infusions were unable to survive when the infusions containing 
them were raised to the temperature at which water boils. This 
impression was produced in part by the explicit statements on this 
subject that had been made by very many biologists, and also in 
part by a comparatively recent and authoritative confirmation 
which this view as to the destructive effects of boiling infusions 
upon Bacteria had received. Little more than two years ago Pro- 
fessor Huxley, as President of the British Association for the 
Advancement of Science, recorded experiments in his Inaugural 
Address which were obviously based upon this belief as a starting- 
point ; and subsequently, in one of the Sectional Meetings, after 
referring to some of my experiments, and to the fact that all un- 
mistakably vital movements ceased after Bacteria had been boiled, 
Professor Huxley addedf:—I cannot be certain about other 
persons, but I am of opinion that observers who have supposed 
they have found Bacteria surviving after boiling have made the 
mistake which I should have done at one time, and, in fact, have 
confused the Brownian movements with true living movements.” 
Some eminent biologists do not now (in reference to the experiments 
cited in my last communication) suggest that the organisms found 
in the infusions were dead and had been there before the fluids 
were boiled: they express doubts concerning that which seems 
formerly to have been regarded as established, and now wish for 
evidence to show that the germs of Bacteria and Vibriones are killed 
in a boiling infusion of hay or turnip, as they have been proved to 
be in “ Pasteur’s Solution” and in solutions containing ammonic 
tartrate and sodic phosphate. 

With the view of removing this last source of doubt more effec- 
tually, and also of refuting the unwarrantablet conclusion of M. 
Pasteur, to the effect that the germs of Bacteria and Vibriones are 
not killed in neutral or slightly alkaline fluids at a temperature 
of 212° F., I almost immediately after the reading of my last 
communication commenced a fresh series. of experiments. 


* See Proceedings of Royal Society, No. 141, 1873, p. 129. 

t See Report in Quart. Journ. of Microscop. Science, Oct. 1870. 

t Reasons for this opinion have been fully set forth in ‘The Beginnings of 
Life,’ vol. i. pp. 374 e¢ seq. ; or the discriminating reader may at once find my 
justification fa rv this expression by reading pp. 58-66 of M. Pasteur’s memoir in 
‘Ann, de Chim. et de Physique,’ 1862. 


On the Heat necessary to kill Bacteria kc. 457 


Nearly two years ago, in my ‘Modes of Origin of Lowest 
Organisms, I brought forward evidence to show that Bacteria, 
Vibriones, and their supposed germs are killed at a temperature of . 
140° F. (60° C.) in nentral or very faintly acid solutions containing 
ammonic tartrate and sodic phosphate, and also evidence tending 
to show that these living units were killed in neutral infusions 
of hay and in acid infusions of turnip at the same temperature. 

The crucial evidence adduced concerning the degree of heat 
destructive to Bacteria, Vibriones, and their germs, in the saline 
solution, was of this nature. The solution had been shown to be 
incapable of engendering Bacteria and Vibriones (under all ordi- 
nary conditions) after it had been boiled, although it still continued 
capable of supporting the life and encouraging the rapid multi- 
plication of any of these organisms which were purposely added to 
it. Some,of this boiled solution, therefore, was introduced into 
flasks previously washed with boiling water; and when the fluids 
had sufficiently cooled, that of each flask was inoculated with 
living Baeteria and Vibriones—in the proportion of one drop of 
a fluid quite turbid with these organisms to one fluid ounce of the 
clear saline solution*. These mixtures containing an abundance 
of living organisms were then heated to various temperatures, 
ranging from 122° F. (50° C.) to 167° F. (75° C.); and it was in- 
variably found that those which had been heated to 122° or 131° F. 
became quite turbid in about two days, whilst those which had 
been raised to 140°F. or upwards as invariably remained clear 
and unaltered. The turbidity in the first series having been ascer- 
tained to be due to the enormous multiplication of Bacteria and 
Vibriones, and it being a well-established fact that such organisms 
when undoubtedly living always rapidly multiply in these fluids, 
the conclusion seemed almost inevitable that the organisms and 
their germs must have been killed m the flasks which were briefly 
subjected to the temperature of 140° F. How else are we to 
account for the fact that these fluids remained quite unaltered 
although’ living organisms were added to them in the same pro- 
portion as they had been to those less-heated fluids which had 
so rapidly become turbid? Even if there does remain the mere 
possibility that the organisms and their supposed germs had not 
actually been killed, they were certainly so far damaged as to 
be unable to manifest any vital characteristics. The heat had, at 
all events, deprived them of their powers of growth and multipli- 
cation ; and these gone, so little of what we are accustomed to call 
“life” could remain, that practically they might well be con- 
sidered dead. And, as I shall subsequently show, the production 
of this potential death by the temperature of 140° F. enables us to 
draw just the same conclusions from other experiments, as if 
such a temperature had produced a demonstrably actual deathf. 


* Fuller details concerning these experiments may be’ found in the little 
work already mentioned at pp. 51-56, and also in‘ The Beginnings of Life,’ 
vol. i. pp. 825-382. 

+ See p. 462. 


458 Royal Society :-— 


Seeing also that these saline solutions were inoculated with a 
fluid in which Bacteria and Vibriones were multiplying rapidly, 
we had a right to infer that they were multiplymg in their 
accustomed manner, “as much by the known method of fission, 
as by any unknown and assumed method of reproduction.” So 
that, as I at the time said*, “These experiments seem to show, 
therefore, that even if Bacteria do multiply by means of invisible 
gemmules, as well as by the known process of fission, such in- 
visible particles possess no higher power of resisting the de- 
structive influence of heat than the parent Bacteria themselves 
possess.” 

This is, in fact, by far the most satisfactory kind of evidence 
that can be produced concerning the powers of resisting heat en- 
joyed by Bacteria and Vibriones, because it also fully meets the 
hypothesis as to their possible multiplication by invisible gemmules 
possessed of a greater power of resisting heat, and because no 
mere inspection by the microscope of dead Bacteria can entitle 
us positively to affirm that they are dead, even though all cha- 
racteristically vital or “ true living” ,movements may be absent. 

Facts of a very similar nature were mentioned in the same 
work strongly tending to show that Bacterra and Vibriones are 
also killed at the same temperature in other fluids, such as infu- 
sions of hay or turnip. These facts were referred to in the following 
statement? :—‘ Thus, if on the same slip, though under different 
covering-glasses, specimens of a hay-infusion turbid with Bacteria 
are mounted, (a) without being heated, (>) after the fluid has been 
raised to 122° F. for ten minutes, and (c) after the fluid has been 
heated to 140° F. for ten minutes, it will be found that in the 
course of a few days the Bacteria under a and 6 have notably 
increased in quantity, whilst those under ¢ do not become more nu- 
merous, however long the slide is kept. Facts of the same kind 
are observable if a turnip-infusion containing living Bacteria is ex- 
perimented with ; and the phenomena are in no way different if a 
solution of ammonic tartrate and sodic phosphate (containing 
Bacteria) be employed instead of one of these vegetable infusions. 
The multiplication of the Bacteria beneath the covering-glass, 
when it occurs, is soon rendered obvious, even to the naked eye, 
by the increasing cloudiness of the film.” 

The facts just cited concerning the behaviour of thin films of 
turbid infusions which had heen heated to different temperatures 
gave me the clue as to the proper direction of future work. It 
would seem that, when mounted in the manner described, such 
thin films of infusion continue capable of supporting and favouring 
the multiplication of any already existing Bacteria and Vibriones, 
although under such conditions no new birth of living particles 
appears to take place even in these fluids. The question then 
arose as to whether, by subjecting larger quantities of the same 
infusions to any particular sets of conditions, we could ensure 


* Modes of Origin of Lowest Organisms, 1871, p. 60. t Loe. cit. p. 60. 


On the Heat necessary to kill Bacteria &c. 459 


that they also should continue to manifest the same properties— 
because, if so, it would be almost as easy to determine the death- 
point of Bacteria and Vibriones when exposed to heat in these 
infusions as it had been to determine it for the saline solutions 
already mentioned. 

It was pointed out by Gruithuisen early in the present century, 
that many infusions, otherwise very productive, ceased to be so 
when they were poured intoa glass vessel whilst boiling, and when 
this was filled so that the tightly fitting stopper touched the fluid. 
Having myself proved the truth of this assertion for hay-infusion, 
it seemed likely that, by having recourse to a method of this kind, 
I should be able to lower the virtues of boiled hay- and turnip- 
infusions to the level of those possessed by the boiled saline solu- 
tion with which I had previously experimented—that is, to reduce 
them to a state in which, whilst they appear (under'these conditions) 
quite unable of themselves to engender Bacteria or Vibriones, 
they continue well capable of favourmg the rapid multiplication of 
such organisms. 

This was found to be the case; and I have accordingly per- 
formed upwards of ene hundred experiments with inoculated 
portions of these two infusions raised to different temperatures. 
The mode in which the experiments were conducted was as 
follows :— 

Infusions of hay and turnip of slightly different strengths 
were employed. These infusions, having been first loosely strained 
through muslin, were boiled for about ten or fifteen minutes, 
and then whilst boiling strained through ordinary Swedish filtering- 
paper into a glass beaker which had previously been well rinsed 
with boiling water. A number of glass bottles or tubes were 
also prepared, which, together with their stoppers or corks, had 
been boiled in ordinary tap water for a few minutes*. They were 
taken out full of the boiling fluid ; and the stoppers or corks being 
at once inserted, the vessels and their contents were set aside to 
cool. When the filtered infusion of hay or turnip had been 
rapidly cooled down to about 110° F. (by letting the beaker con- 
taining it stand ina large basin of cold water), it was inoculated 
with some of a turbid infusion of hay swarming with active 
Bacteria and Vibriones—in the proportion of one drop of the turbid 
fluid to each fluid ounce of the now clear filtered infusiont. The 
beaker was then placed upon a sand-bath, and its contained fluid 
(in which a thermometer was immersed) gradually raised to the 
required temperature. The fluid was maintained at the same tem- 
perature for five minutes by alternately raising the beaker from 


* The vessels employed have varied in capacity from two drachms to four 
ounces; some have been provided with glass stoppers, and others with ve 
tightly fitting corks; and the latter I find have answered quite as well as the 
former. On the whole I have found tightly corked one-ounce phials to be about 
the most convenient vessels to employ in these inoculation experiments. 

+ It was found desirable to filter the infusions after they had been boiled, 
because the boiling generally somewhat impaired their clearness. 


A460 . | | Royal Society :-— 


and replacing it upon the sand-bath. The bottles to be used were 
then one by one uncorked, emptied, and refilled to the brim with 
the heated inoculated fluid*. The corks or stoppers were at once 
very tightly pressed down, so as to leave no air between them and 
the surface of the fluids. The beaker was then replaced upon the 
sand-bath and the gas turned on more fully, in order that the ex- 
perimental fluid might be rapidly raised to a temperature 9° F. 
(5° ©.) higher than it had been before. After five minutes’ 
exposure to this temperature other bottles were filled in the same 
manner, and so on for the various temperatures the influence of 
which it was desired to test. 

Thus prepared, the bottles and tubes have been exposed during 
the day toa temperature ranging from 65° to 75° F. And generally 
one had not to wait long in order to ascertain what the results 
were to be. In some cases, if the contents of the vessels were 
to become turbid, this was more or less manifest after an in- 
terval of forty-eight hours ; in other cases, however, the turbidity 
manifested itself three or more days later: the reason of this 
difference will be fully discussed in a subsequent communication. 

For the sake of simplicity and brevity, the necessary particu- 
lars concerning the 102 experiments have been embodied in the 
opposite Table. 

The experimental results here tabulated seem naturally divisible 
into three groups. Thus, when heated only to 131° F., all the in- 
fusions became turbid within two days, just as the inoculated saline 
solutions had donet. Heated to 158° F’. all the moculated organic 
infusions remained clear, as had been the case with the saline 
solutions in my previous experiments when heated to 140° F. 
There remains, therefore, an intermediate heat zone (ranging from 
a little below 140° to a little below 158° F.) after an exposure to 
which the inoculated organic infusions are apt to become more 
slowly turbid, although inoculated saline solutions raised to the 
same temperatures invariably remain unaltered. The full expla- 
nation of these apparent anomalies I propose to make the subject 
of a future communication to the Royal Society ; meanwhile we 
may quite safely conclude that Bacteria, Vibriones, and their sup- 
posed germs are either actually killed or else completely deprived 
of their powers of multiplication after a brief exposure to the tem- 
perature of 158° F. (70° C.). 


This evidence now in our possession as to the limits of “ vital 
resistance ” to heat displayed by Bacteria, Vibriones, and their sup- 
posed germs in neutral saline solutions, and in neutral or acid or- 
ganic infusions, is most pertinent and valuable when considered 
in relation to that supplied by other sets of experiments bearing 
upon the all-important problem of the Origin of Life. These 

* At this stage, of course, very great care is needed in order to avoid all 
chance of accidental contamination either with living organisms or with un- 


heated fragments or particles of organic matter. 
t In the experiments already referred to. 


On the Heat necessary to kill Bacteria &c. 461 


Inoculation Experiments made with the view of ascertaining 
the Temperatures at which Bacteria, Vibriones, and their sup- 
posed Germs are killed in Organic Infusions. 

MA 


Nevutrat Hay-Inrusion. 


peel $A Number Dae Results 
hk ie of ex- of Turbidit at Expiration 
Bone d periments +f an y» of the 
rap ae made. if 8th day. 
990 Tt) 
ee rs ) } di 24 hours. Turbid. 
¥81° F. % 48 hours. All turbid. 
1 in 48 hours. 
140° F. 9 em) ae All turbid. 
: lin 8 days. 

6 2in 5 days. Three turbid. 
ea " { lin 8 days. } { One clear. 
158° F. Es Sy leet ahh oe ie bs All clear. 
eG 7° Be re Read he Abas eines All clear. 

Oo ° 
ae A ) } al I WATE asia All clear. 


Acip Turnip-LyFrusion. 


Temp. to Number Date Results: 
which ofex |’ of Turbidity, | * Expiration 
eS periments a of the 
Pg: ores made. ye 8th day. 
122° FB, ROTA Te ep aie Tiles es Bhaeae ies 

in 24 hours. , 
13 baal 7 eaten hs See de Hcita, } All turbid. 
TaN in 40 finiedO Heats: 
140° F. 4in 3 days. All turbid. 
2in 4 days. 
lin 3 days. 
. 3in 5 days. {th en éurbid. 
eae: lin 7 days. | Thee clear. 
2in 8 days. 
eee e ty) Wr Sl ee a aL clear. 
167 FE: a Sis arent All clear. 


MiG" Es. TM) moe rr amee ey oe oe 


462 Royal Society. 


latter experiments alone may possibly leave doubt in many minds ; 
but the more thoroughly they are considered in relation to the 
evidence brought forward in this communication, the more fully, I 
venture to think, will every lingering doubt as to the proper con- 
clusion to be arrived at be dispelled. 

Thus we now know that boiled turnip- or hay-infusions ex- 
posed to ordinary air, exposed to filtered air, to calcined air, or 
shut off altogether from contact with air are more or less prone to 
swarm with Bacteria and Vibriones in the course of from two to six 
days ; but, placed under slightly different conditions, such as were 
employed in the inoculation experiments above quoted, although 
infusions of the same nature do not undergo “ spontaneous” putre- 
factive changes, yet when living Bacteridand Vibriones are added, 
and not subsequently heated, putrefaction invariably takes place and 
the fluids thus situated rapidly become turbid. There is therefore 
nothing in the conditions themselves tending to hinder the process 
of putrefaction, so long as living units are there to initiate it. Our 
experiments now show that as long as the added Bacteria, Vibriones, 
and their supposed germs are subjected to a heat not exceeding 131° 
F. (55° C.), putrefaction invariably occurs within two days; whilst, 
on the contrary, whenever they are subjected to a temperature of 
158° F. (70° C.) putrefaction does not occur. To what can this 
difference be due, except to the fact that the previously living or- 
ganisms, which, when living, always excite putrefaction, have been 
killed by the temperature of 158° F.? It would be of no avail to 
suppose that the absence of putrefaction in these latter cases is 
due to the fact that a heat of 158° F., instead of killing the or- 
ganisms and their germs, merely annuls their powers of repro- 
duction, because in the other series of experiments (with which 
these have to be compared), where similar fluids are exposed to 
ordinary or purified air, or are shut off from the influence of air 
altogether, the most active putrefaction and multiplication of or- 
ganisms takes place in two, three, or four days, in spite of the 
much more potent heat of 212° F. to which any preexisting germs 
or organisms must have been subjected. The supposition, there- 
fore, that the Bacteria, Vibriones, and their germs were not killed 
in our inoculation experiments at the temperature of 158° F., but 
were merely deprived of their powers of reproduction, would be no 
gain to those who desire to stave off the admission that Bacteria 
and Vibriones can be proved to arise de novo in certain cases. Let 
us assume this (which is indisputably proved by these inoculation 
experiments), viz. that an exposure to a temperature of 158° F. 
(70° ©.) for five minutes deprives Bacteria, Vibriones, and their 
germs of their usual powers of growth and reproduction—that 
is, that itreduces them to a state of potential, if not necessarily 
to one ‘of actual death. What end would be served by such a 
reservation? The impending conclusion could not be staved off 
by means of it. The explanation of what occurs in the other set 
of experiments, where the much more potent heat of 212° F. is 
employed, still would not be possible without having recourse to 


Miscellaneous. 463 


the supposition of a de novo origination of living units, so long as 
those which may have preexisted in the flasks could be proved 
to have been reduced to such a state of potential death. It would 
be preposterous, and contrary to the whole order of Nature, to 
assume that the vastly increased destructive influence of a heat of 
212° F. had restored vital properties which a lesser amount (158° 
F.) of the same influence had completely annulled. 

The evidence supplied by these different series of experiments, 
in whichever way it is regarded, as it seems to me, absolutely 
compels the logical reasoner to conclude that the swarms of living 
organisms which so often make their appearance in boiled infusions 
treated in one or other of the various modes already proved to be 
either destructive or exclusive of preexisting living things are the 
products of anew brood of “ living” particles, which, in the absence 
of any coexisting living organisms, must have taken origin in the 
fluid itself. For this mode of origin of living units, so long 
spoken of and repudiated as ‘“ spontaneous generation,” I have 
proposed the new term Archebiosis. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


Habits of Xenurus unicinctus, or Cabassou. 


By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.B.S., F.Z.8., &e. 


A sprciMEN of this animal has been living in the Zoological 
Gardens for this last three or four months. 

It feeds freely on chopped meat and vegetables. 

The head is very blunt, with a broad, truncated, flesh-coloured 
nose with large nostrils. The ears are very large and covered with 
scales; they are usually open and spread out, but always have a 
keel on the inner side; the fore and hinder fiat surfaces are fre- 
quently completely closed by compressing the two sides of the ear 
very closely together, perhaps to protect the cavity of the ear from 
the sand of the places they are said to inhabit. The body is broad, 
depressed, and sunk in the middle of the back, and the dorsal disk is 
very soft and flexible. The tail is elongate, subcylindrical, blackish, 
. naked, and smooth, with three longitudinal series of calcareous 
tubercles on each side of the under part of the hinder half of the 
tail, which are of a roundish shape and are sunken into its sub- 
stance so as to be level with the surface. The front claws are very 
large, and squarely truncated at the end, from the animal’s habit 
of walking on the tips of them. The front fingers are very mobile ; 
and the animal is constantly spreading them out, so that they 
radiate from one another and can make a very broad foot, if re- 
quired by the place it inhabits. The hind claws are similar, but not 
quite so large or unequal. The penis is long, fusiform, and entirely 
retractile. The front claws of the wild specimens in the Museum 
are not so much truncated as those of the specimen in the Zoological 
Gardens ; and though the tubercles on the tail are present in the 


464 Miscellaneous. 


dried specimens, they are not so regular, well-marked, and distinct 
as in the living animal. 

The way of walking is somewhat similar to that of Tolypeutes. 
The generality of stuffed specimens give a very wrong idea of the 
form of the nose, dorsal shield, and of the feet. Though Xenwrus 
and Yolypeutes walk on the tips of the claws, they stand and walk 
in a very different manner. In the Cabassou (Xenwrus) the toes 
are short, and have very strong elongate claws, which spread out 
horizontally, and are rather divergent; the animal walks on the 
tips of its claws, the remainder of the claws and the soles of the 
feet being parallel to, but raised from the soil. In Tolypeutes the 
toes are very short; the claws are slender, elongate, and bent down 
perpendicularly, so that the animal walks on the tips of its claws, 
as on stilts. 

Several persons to whom I have mentioned these facts doubt their 
truth, especially in the latter genus; but I have repeatedly verified 
them with my own eyes. The stuffed specimens and the figures of 
the animals, and also the figures of the bones of the feet, though 
very accurate in all their details, give a very erroneous idea of the 
manner in which these animals stand and, more especially, walk. 
The Cabassou walks about with the nostrils of his broad truncated 
nose expanded, sniffing very much lke a pig; and from the way it 
turns over the hay of its cage with its nose, I think that very pro- 
bably it searches for its food in the same manner as pigs do, thereby 
justifying the English name generally given to the armadilloes, 
“hog in armour.” 


On the Fauna of Nowaja-Semlja. By Prof. Enxumrs. 


Prof. Ehlers has published a list of marine animals from Nowaja- 
Semlja, belonging to the classes Insecta, Arachnoidea, Ascidia, to 
the Vermes, Bryozoa, Echinodermata, Coelenterata, and Sponges. 
He concludes it with the following remarks. 

Although this catalogue cannot claim to even approximate com- 
pleteness in the enumeration of the animals belonging to the classes 
treated in it which occur on the shores of Nowaja-Semlja, it is 
nevertheless large enough to show that in general the fauna is that of 
the European north sea; but it further shows that on these islands 
animals occur together which we should otherwise regard as endemic 
forms of two distinct zoogeographical provinces. Thus, if we indi- 
cate the coasts of Spitzbergen, Greenland, and perhaps polar America 
as parts of an arctic province, and those of Iceland and northern 
Scandinavia as parts of a boreal province, and distinguish those 
animals which have hitherto been found in one province or the other 
as boreal and arctic animals, it appears that on the shores of Nowaja- 
Semlja arctic and boreal animals occur side by side, besides those 
animals which are distributed through all provinces of the northern 
seas. 

It seems probable that the behaviour of the Gulf-stream has some 
influence upon this distribution, inasmuch as a part of its current at- 
tains the southern shore of Nowaja-Semlja, and so on this coast a 


Miscellaneous. 465 


neutral territory is produced, in whichthe conditions of the arctic 
province, scarcely, if at all, affected by the Gulf-stream, may meet 
more or less with those of the boreal province ; whilst boreal animals 
may the more easily be carried northwards to Nowaja-Semlja from 
the neighbouring Scandinavian coasts, as the Gulf-stream passing by 
the latter carries them to this island. 

The following summary furnishes evidence of this. In it I have 
referred only to those animals of whose distribution in the northern 
sea we are accurately informed. 

There have been found on the shores of Nowaja-Semlja :— 


I. Animals which were known only as arctic: 

Castalia arctica, Mlmg., Spitzbergen. Nereis zonata, Mlmg., 
Spitzbergen and North Greenland. Huchone analis, Kr., Spitz- 
bergen and Greenland. Chone Duneri, Mimg., Spitzbergen. 
Asteracanthion gronlandicus, Steenstr., Greenland. Myriotro- 
chus Rinkii, Steenstr., Greenland. 


II. Animals which were known only as boreal, or which had their 
northern limit of distribution in the boreal province : 
Evarne impar, Johnst., Iceland, Norwegian, English, and French 
coasts. Pista cristata, Mill., Norwegian and English coasts. 
Euchone papillosa, Sars, Norway. 


III. Animals found everywhere in the northern sea: 

Harmothoe imbricata, Linn. Pholoe minuta, Fab. Lumbriconereis. 
Cirratulus cirratus, Mill. Amphitrite cirrata, Mull. Terebel- 
hides Stromu, Sars. Priapulus caudatus, Lam. Aleyonidium 
gélatinosum, Linn. 


Here also must be placed Erigone longipalpis, Sund., which, as 
Dr. Koch kindly informs me, has been observed in England, occurs 
in Sweden, and has been found in Spitzbergen. Bdella arctica, 
Thor., appears to be widely distributed in high northern latitudes, 
and to occur particularly abundantly in Greenland. 

As regards the animals collected on the coast of Finmark, I have only 
to remark that among them there are some which have hitherto been 
known only from more northern coasts, such as:—WSevone lobata, Mlmg., 
Spitzbergen and Greenland; Phascolosoma boreale, Kef., Greenland ; 
Ophiocten sericeum, Forb., Ljungm., Polar America, Greenland, and 
Spitzbergen.—-Sttzungsber. phys.-med. Soc. zu Erlangen, January 12, 
1873. 


On “Le Rut de Madagascar.” 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &. 


Buffon, in the third volume of the ‘Supplement’ to the ‘ Histoire 
Natureile,’ p. 49, t. xx., describes and figures “le Rat de Madagascar” . 
from a specimen that lived several years in the collection of Madame 
la Comtesse de Massam. This figure has been referred to the Lemur 
murimus of Gmelin and to several other nominal species. 

Unfortunately the size of the animal is not mentioned ; but if the 
figure is of the size of the living specimen there can be little doubt 


Ann. & Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 30 


466 Miscellaneous. 


that it is the same as a small Lemuroid in spirits that we have 
lately purchased, labelled ‘La plus petite Macque de Madagascar 
entre Manham et Ténériffe.” 

It agrees with Buffon’s figure in all particulars, especially in the 
acuteness and prominence of the nose beyond the lips. As the animal 
has only been described from a stuffed specimen, I may add :—The 
muzzle naked, having a central longitudinal groove on the underside 
to the border of the lip; the whiskers are long; the ears are rather 
large, about half the length of the head from their front edge, 
rather naked, with short close hairs on the outer surface. The hind 
legs and feet are strong. 

The head is 13 inch long, the body 32 inches. The tail is cylin- 
drical, 5% inches long, covered with close hair, and with scattered, 
longer, soft hair near the end. The hind leg is 13 inch long, and 
the hind foot 13 inch long, when the animal is measured taken out 
of spirit. 

The examination of the skeleton has proved this animal to be the 
Azema Smithii ; and, like this, it has the nose and the intermaxillary 
bones produced not so much as in the Galago Demidoffit. This 
prominence of the intermaxillaries at once distinguishes it from 
Murilemur murinus, which is otherwise very like it and comes from 
Madagascar, the skull of which is also at once known by the existence 
of a large round perforation on each side of the hinder edge of the 
palate, well figured by Mr. Mivart, and not found in the skullof either 
Azema Smithii or Galago Demidoffir. 


Note on the Anatomy of Comatula rosacea. By E. Prerrrer. 


Last summer, at the laboratory of experimental zoology of M. 
Lacaze-Duthiers, at Roscoff (Finisterre), I endeavoured to clear up 
the obscure points which still exist in the anatomy of the Comatule, 
the last remains of the rich fauna of Crinoids presented to us by 
geological strata. Our Comatule are provided with ten arms, ar- 
ranged in pairs, and radiating round a disk, upon which is placed a 
visceral sac containing the digestive apparatus. The arms are fur- 
nished on each side with a row of alternate pinnules, each joint of 
the arms bearing a pinnule upon one of its sides. The pinnules 
seem to be a repetition on a small scale of the arms themselves, but 
they do not bear secondary pinnules. 

On the disk we see two orifices—one central, which is the mouth; 
the other lateral, corresponding to the interval between two pairs 
of arms, and situated at the extremity of a sort of fleshy chimney 
terminated by eight lobes; this is the anus. Round the mouth 
there is a vascular ring, which, opposite to the base of each pair of 
arms, emits a vascular branch; and this, bifurcating at the base of 
each pair, furnishes each arm with a canal called the radial or ten- 
tacular canal. The vascular ring in the intervals between the five 
primary radial canals gives origin, on its inner margin, to eight or 
ten contiguous digitiform tentacles, which are largest at the middle 
of each interval, and become smaller in the neighbourhood of the 


Miscellaneous. 467 


canals which separate them. In traversing the disk the latter canals 
also give origin to small, simple, and alternate digitiform tentacles. 
The five radial canals of the disk cut off five sectors upon it. If we 
examine the integument upon each of these sectors, we find it per- 
forated with about twenty perfectly circular orifices, irregularly ar- 
ranged, about 0-005 millim. in diameter, and bordered by an epithe- 
lial ring of which the cells are 0-001 millim. in diameter. These ori- 
fices lead into little ovoid cca, lined with the same epithelium ; I do 
not know what may be the function of these singular organs. The 
very young Comatula only presents one of them in each sector; their 
number consequently increases greatly with the age of the animal. 
Some of the orifices touch each other, as if their multiplication took 
place by a longitudinal division of preexistent cecal organs. The 
tegumentary membrane of the disk is lined internally with a num- 
ber of calcareous plates, of irregularly circular form, often marked 
with annular striz, and presenting a sortof central star thicker than 
the plate itself, and having its arms sometimes bifurcated. Some of 
the plates are destitute of stars ; others are perforated; their study 
may be of some importance in specific determinations. These plates 
and the cecal organs just described have not previously been indi- 
cated, so far as I am aware. 

I have made the arms of the Comatula the subject of particular 
study. Their calcareous skeleton is formed of pieces of an hourglass- 
shape, having at the lower part of their anterior margin a certain 
number of spines, which prevent the complete reversal of the joints 
upon each other. Itis surrounded bya sheath of soft tissues, which 
is developed laterally into a membranous lamella, festooned on each 
side in such a manner that the festoons of one side alternate with 
those of the other; between two consecutive festoons there is always 
a group of three unequal tentacles, the largest of which is towards 
the extremity of the arm. These tentacles, which are all extremely 
mobile, present no external orifice ; they bear two or three rows of 
papille terminated by a small dilated head, which bears three slender 
rigid and divergent sete. The three tentacles of each group spring 
by a common branch from the tentacular canal. The largest tentacle 
exactly separates two festoons from each other ; the two smaller ones 
repose upon the festoons, to which they partially adhere ; and this has 
led Prof. Wyville Thomson to think that they formed part of it and 
opened into the tentacular canal by a different orifice from that of 
the large tentacle. 

The tentacular canal adheres to the vibratile epithelium of the 
upper surface of the arms; it is composed of two envelopes, separated 
by brilliant stellate corpuscles ; and these two envelopes assist in the 
formation of the walls of the tentacles. Seen in profile they simu- 
late the appearance of two or even three superimposed vessels be- 
neath the tentacular canal, which is the cause of the notions that 
have hitherto prevailed as to the organization of the Comatule. 
There is, however, absolutely, no other canal in the arms of the Coma- 
tule, although this canal does not rest directly upon the skeleton, but 
is separated from it by a vacant space, which is more or less apparent 


30* 


468 Miscellaneous. 


according to the state of flexure of the arms, and which is nothing 
but the prolongation of the general cavity. It is to this cavity that 
Dr. Carpenter has given the name of the celiac canal. The calca- 
reous joints are besides enveloped by a delicate membrane, beneath 
which are seen stellate conjunctive corpuscles. The tentacular canal 
terminates csecally in the arms and in the pinnules, a little beyond 
the middle of the antepenultimate calcareous joint. Muscular fibres 
unite the groups of tentacles to the point where they spread into 
three branches ; a muscular ribbon also runs all along the median 
line of the arms beneath the epithelium of the ambulacral furrow. 
Each tentacle, moreover, has its proper muscles, situated between 
the external epithelium and the first envelope proceeding from the 
tentacular canal. We cannot, therefore, accept the opinion of Pro- 
fessor Wyville Thomson, who regards the tissues of the Comatule 
as sarcodic. 

I could find no trace of a nervous system. 

I have cut off the arms of several of these animals, and witnessed 
their regeneration, which takes place very rapidly.— Comptes Rendus, 
March 17, 1873, p. 718. 


On Mammalia from the Neighbourhood of Concordia, in New Granada. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


Mr. Edward Gerrard, Jun., has just received a series of Mam- 
malia from Concordia or Antioquia, which is very interesting as 
showing that several species have a more northern distribution on 
the western side of the subtropical part of South America north of 
the equator. 

1. Ateles ater. A fine large specimen. 

2. Cebus hypoleucus. A large specimen, with the upper part of 
the forearms white. 

3. Nyctipithecus Commersonii. Like the other monkeys of a large 
size. 

4, Nasua dorsalis, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1866, t. xvii. There are four 
specimens of this species, of different ages, but very nearly alike. 
The younger one is the darkest, and most resembles the single one 
figured, on which was established the species, which the present 
specimens confirm. 

5. Galera barbata. The specimen is peculiar for having a white 
lunar mark on the front of the back ; but this mark is not quite sym- 
metrical, and most probably accidental. 

6. Grisonia vittata. The specimen is of very large size, larger 
than those we usually have from Demerara. 

7. Didelphys cancrivora. ‘ 

8. Erethizon rufescens, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1865, p. 321, t. xi. Only 
one specimen of this species before known ; and this confirms the 
habitat (Columbia) assigned to it, and also the distinctness of the 
species, and enables us to examine its skull. 

9, Dasyprocta nigra, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1842; Zool. 


Miscellaneous. 469 


Ereb. & Terr.t. This is the first time,that the habitat of this species 
has been recorded. The specimen has a much greener tinge than 
the two specimens in the British Museum ; but this may arise from 
its freshness. 

10. Scturus griseogena, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. The Con- 
cordian specimen differs from the others in the Museum from Vene- 
zuela in having a black streak on the whole length of the back, as 
in Macroawus medellinensis, Gray (Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist.), which we 
received from Concordia on a former occasion ; but that has a white 
throat and belly, and is of a smaller size. 

11. Tatusia granadina, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1873. 

12. Cholepus Hoffmanni. 

13. Tamandua tetradactyla, var. leucopygia. 


Additional Note on Tolypeutes conurus. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &e. 


Since I examined this animal, taken out of spirit, and sent 
a note on it to the ‘Annals,’ Mr. Edward Gerrard has made 
a beautiful skeleton of that animal, on which I may further ob- 
serve :— 

1. The dorsal and the head shield of these animals are much 
thicker and harder than the shields of other armadilloes, in this 
respect showing much affinity to the fossil genera, especially 
Glyptodon. 

2. The whole internal surface of the dorsal disk is lined with 
skin, the entire front margin of the front ring being attached to 
the animal by the skin; and the central part of the hinder dorsal 
disk is attached by cartilage to the central ridge of the pelvis. This 
cartilage leaves a rough line on the central erest of the pelvis 
and on the inside of the dorsal disk, showing the extent of its 
adhesion. 

According to Dr. Burmeister’s figure, the pelvis and internal part 
of the dorsal shield of the Glyptodon are attached in the same man- 
ner (see ‘Anales del Museo Publico de Buenos Aires,’ 1873, ii. 
part 10, t.). Indeed there seems great analogy in the pelvis and 
shields between the genera; but the skulls and teeth are very dif- 
ferent. A figure of the skeleton and dorsal shield of this animal 
will shortly appear in the ‘ Hand-list of Mammalia.’ 


On the Respiration of the Psammodromi. 
By M. J. Jururen. 


The lung of the Psammodromz is traversed internally by very 
voluminous muscular bundles composed of smooth fibres anastomosing 
with each other and forming a sort of interior framework, which 
seems to support the pulmonary tissue properly so called, as in all 
reptiles. 


470 Miscellaneous. 


These muscular bundles have a most important part in the re- 
spiration of these animals. They do not swallow the air like the 
Batrachians ; but when they respire, the muscular bundles contract 
(as the heart itself would do), the air is expelled, and after the con- 
traction reenters the lungs by virtue of the elasticity of the thorax, 
aided, no doubt, by the elevator muscles of the ribs. Contractions of 
the thoracic muscles take no part in the expiration, which is due 
solely to the muscles of the lungs themselves. It does not seem 
probable that these pulmonary muscles are subjected to the will of 
the animal ; it appears to me that they must act like the muscles of 
the iris, which contract independently according to the intensity of 
the light. When we observe one of these lizards breathing, the 
longest respiratory period is that of expiration, followed immediately 
by a sudden inspiration. When a mammal respires, the contrary is 
the case; a long inspiration precedes a shorter expiration. The 
respiration of the Psammodromi therefore differs profoundly, both 
from an anatomical and a physiological point of view, from that of 
Mammalia and Birds. It belongs to an intermediate type, which 
must take its place below that of the two classes just mentioned and 
above that of the Batrachia.—Comptes Rendus, March 3, 1873, tome 
lxxvi, p. 585. 


M. Gervais on the Skeleton of the Luth (Sphargis coriacea). 


Two specimens of this Turtle were caught on the coast of France 
in May 1872. One specimen was sent to Paris; but it arrived in 
such a bad state that it could only be made into a skeleton, there 
being none previously in the Anatomical Museum of Paris. 

M. Gervais has published a paper on this specimen, which, 
though called adult, is evidently a young one, though the size is not 
stated ; and he has added some indications of the skeleton of a much 
younger animal, in the eighth volume of the ‘Nouvelles Archives 
du Muséum,’ illustrated with five beautiful plates, and describes the 
skin of a new fossil species as Sphargis pseudostracion, found in the 
blue calcareous strata of Valergues (Hérault). 

This paper confirms the account of the skeleton of this animal 
given by Dr. Gray in a previous number of the ‘Annals.’ It would 
be curious to compare this skeleton with the perfect skeleton from 
the coast of Demerara in the museum at Stuttgard. 


On an adult Skeleton of Tyrse nilotica in the British Museum. 
By Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S. &c. 


Dr. Baikie sent home a very fine skeleton of an adult Tyrse 
from West Africa, which has just been mounted; and it shows 
peculiarities which have not heretofore been observed in this 
animal. 

The sternal callosities are much broader and more developed. The 


Miscellaneous. 471 


lateral pair on each side are very broad and dilated on the inner side, 
forming an entire expanded disk; all the diverging lobes at the 
front inner and at the hinder inner margins are obliterated and 
covered with thé callous outer surface. In the same manner the 
anterior outer process is reduced to a short, broad, blunt, simple 
process ; and the hinder outer one is also reduced to a short thick 
process, bluntly divided into two lobes at the end. 

The hinder pair of anal callosities are very large and triangular, 
nearly as broad as long. The pair are united to each other by a 
straight central suture, so as to form a broad triangular callosity, 
the anal and the hinder lateral bones being united by two sinuosities, 
being the remains of the usual lobes on the marginal plates in the 
young animal. 

The most remarkable peculiarity, because there is no indication of 
it in the younger specimens, is that it possesses a moderate-sized 
triangular callosity, with a curved hinder side on the middle of the 
odd anterior sternal bone, showing an alliance in this respect to the 
Emydina, or Mud-Tortoises with valves over their feet, which 
generally have an odd anterior callosity ; but I had never before seen 
it in a tortoise with exposed hind feet and legs. 


Bryozoa of Florida. 


F. A. Smitt has published the first part of the descriptions and 
figures of the Floridan Bryozoa, collected by Count L. F. de Pourtales, 
in the ‘Kongl. Svenska Vetenskaps Akademiens Handlingar,’ 
vol. x. 

This paper, like many others published by the Royal Swedish 
Academy of Sciences, is entirely written in the English language, 
and is illustrated with five very large plates, showing the various 
changes of form that the species undergo.—J. E. Gray. 


The late Ropert M‘Anprew, Esq., F.R.S. 


We much regret having to announce the death on the 22nd inst. 
of Mr. Robert M‘Andrew, F.R.S., at his residence, Isleworth House, 
in the 72nd year of his age. His researches by dredging in the 
North Atlantic from Hammerfest to the Canary Isles, as well as in 
the Mediterranean and Gulf of Suez, produced most important 
additions to our knowledge of the geographical distribution of the 
marine invertebrate fauna. He was an excellent conchologist, having 
derived his taste for that branch of natural history about thirty years 
ago from the lamented Edward Forbes. Mr. M‘Andrew was at that 
time engaged in commerce, but latterly devoted his ample means and 
time to the pursuit of science. We believe he has left his extensive 
collection of shells to the University Museum at Cambridge. His 
contributions to this Journal were extremely valuable.—J.G. J. 


72 


INDEX to VOL. XI. 


ABRETIA, new species of, 270. 

Acorethra, description of the new 
genus, 126. 

Acyphoderes, new species of, 117. 

Agardh, Prof. T. G., on a new British 
Alga, 156. 

Agaricus, new British species of, 340. 

Agenia, new species of, 445. 

Agestra, on the new genus, 185, 

Airy, Dr. H., on leaf-arrangement, 
386. 

Alga, on a new British, 156, 

Ammonites, on a new Classification 
of, 362, 451. 

Animals, on fabulous Australian, 
315; on the classification of, 321. 

Antilocapra, on the horns of, 80. 

Antyllis, on the new genus, 195. 

Aplysia, on the development of, 85. 

Apostropha, description of the new 
genus, 150. 

Appendicularia furcata, on the young 
of, 87. 

Argyrosomus, new species of, 319, 

Articulata, physico-chemical investi- 

* gations upon the aquatic, 70. 

Azema Smithii, on, 465. 

Bacteria, on the origin of, 383; on 
the heat necessary to kill, 454. 

Bastian, Dr. H.C.,on the origin of 
Bacteria and their relation to the 
process of putrefaction, 883; on the 
temperature necessary to Jill Bac- 
teria, Vibriones, and their germs, 
454. 

Bates, H. W., on the Longicorn Co- 
leoptera of Tropical America, 21, 
TT. 

Berardius, observations on, 17, 111. 

Berkeley, Rev. M. J., on British 
Fungi, 359. 

Bipalium, on the anatomy and his- 
tology of, 310. 

Birds, new, 15, 21, 138, 221; fossil, 
on new and remarkable, 80, 233. 
Books, new :—Symonds’s Record of 
the Rocks, 149 ; Nicholson’s Man- 
ual of Paleontology, 151; Ehren- 
berg’s Microgeological Studies, 
224; Cordeaux’s Birds of the 
Humber District, 377; Colquhoun’s 
Ferz Nature of the British Islands, 

381. 


Borlasia Kefersteinii, on the struc- 
ture of the proboscis of, 398. 

Brexius, new species of, 196, 

Broome, C.E., on British Fungi, 339, 

Butler, A. G., on Crinodes Sommeri, 
78; on new species of Gonyleptes, 
112. 

Calcispongiz, on the position of the, 
in the animal kingdom, 241, 421. 

Callichelys, new species of, 148. 

Carbonnier, M., on the reproduction 
and development of the telescope- 
fish of China, 76. 

Carter, H. J., on the transformation 
of an entire shell into chitinous 
structure by the polype Hydrac- 
tinia, with descriptions of the poly- 
pidoms of five other species, | ; 
on whales in the Indian Ocean, 
251; on Labaria hemispheerica and 
the Sarcohexactinellid Sponges, 
275; on the points of distinction 
between the Spongiade and the 
Foraminifera, 351. 

Cephalopoda, on the parasite of the 
renal organ of, 95. 

Ceratella, new species of, 10. 

Ceratophrys, new species of, 417. 

Cervus chilensis and C. antisiensis, 
remarks on, 213. 

Cetacea of the N.W. coast of Ame- 
rica, on the parasites of the, 157, 
258 ; new species of, 316. 

peri: new British species of, 

Charis, new species of, 123. 

Chelonians, notes on, 143; new 
genera and species of, 156, 289; 
on the original form, development, 
and cohesion of the bones of the 
sternum of, 161; on some extinct, 
from the islands of Rodriguez and 
Mauritius, 397. 

Chiroleptes, new species of, 350. 

Chitina, new species of, 13, 

Chrysemys, new species of, 147. 

Cistoclemmys, new species of, 294. 

Clonograpsus, on the genus, 138. 

Codiophyllum, observations on, 77. 

Coleoptera, on the Longicorn, of 
Tropical America, 21, 117. 

Comatula rosacea, on the anatomy 
of, 466. 


INDEX. 


Corticium, new species of, 343. 

Crinodes Sommeri, on, 78. 

Crustacea, new species of, parasitic 
on Cetacea, 157, 238; on a new 
genus of Amphipod, 389. 

Cryptolepas, characters of the new 
genus, 239. 

Curculionidz, new Australian, 178. 

Cyamus, new species of, 157. 

Cyphella, new species of, 343. 

Cyprinus macrophthalmus, on the 
Be tuctzon and development of, 

6. 

Cyttalia, description of the new 
genus, 194, 

Dacrymyces, new species of, 343. 

Dactylium, new species of, 345. 

Dall, W. H., on three new species of 
Crustacea parasitic on Cetacea, 

' 157; onsome new species of Mol- 
lusks, 159; on the parasites of the 
Cetaceans of the N.W. coast 
of America, 238; on three new 
species of Cetacea, 316, 

Damonia, new species of, 299, 

Danais Archippus, on the appearance 
of, in Australia, 440. 

Dawsonia, description of the new 
genus, 159, 

De Candolle, A., on the advantage of 
eign language for science, 
401. 

Deep-sea dredging in the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence, 155, 

Delphinus, new species of, 316. 

Dendrohyrax arboreus, note on, 154. 

Descendence, on the theory of, 241. 

Dicomada, description of the new 
genus, 190. 

Dictyonema, new species of, 134. 

me on the organization of, 

Dicyema, observations on, 95. 

Diethusa, description of the new 
genus, 185. 

Dipnoans, on the homologies of the 
shoulder-girdle of the, 173. 

Dolphins, on the geographical distri- 
bution, migration, and occasional 
habitats of the, 98; of the New- 
Zealand seas, 104. 

Draper, Dr. J. C., on growth or evo- 
lution of structure in seedlings, 45. 

Dubreuil, E., on the capreolus of 
Zonites algirus, 235. 

Ehlers, Prof., on the fauna of No- 
waja-Semlja, 464. 


Ann. & Mag. N. H. Ser. 4. Vol. xi. 


473 


Embryo, on the primitive cell-layers 
of the, 321. 

Emplesis, new species of, 185, 

Emys, new species of, 146. 

Enide, description of the new genus, 
187 

Eniopea, description of the new 
genus, 184 

Entomidella, description of the new 
genus, 416, 

Entomis, on the genus, 413. 

Entomostraca, on the Paleozoic bi 
valved, 415. 

Epiodon, new species of, 105. 

Eryma, on the genus, 299. 

Evas, new species of, 179. 

Falco, new species of, 20, 221. 

Fauna of Lake Michigan, on the 
deep-water, 319; of Nowaja- 
Semlja, on the, 464. 

Favre, E., on a new classification of 
Ammonites, 362, 451. 

Fishes, on the homologies of the 
shoulder-girdle of some, 173; new, 
319. 

Foraminifera, on points of distinc- 
tion between the Spongiade and 
the, 361. 

Fossils from the Quebec group of 
Point Lévis, Quebec, on some, 133. 

French measures, 400. 

Frogs,new speciesof Australian, 349. 

Fungi, notices of British, 339. 

Gamasus, new species of, 79. 

Geomalacus, on the French species 
of, 271. 

Gervais, M., on the skeleton of 
Sphargis coriacea, 470. 

Gerynassa, description of the new 
genus, 189. 

Gill, Dr. T., on the homologies of the 
shoulder-girdle of the Dipnoans 
and other fishes, 173. 

Glycera, on notochordal rudiments 
in, 92. 

Gonyleptes, monograph of the genus, 
112. 

Grampus, new species of, 317. 

Graptemys, new species of, 300. 

Graptolites, new genera and species 
of, 134. 

Gray, Dr. J. E., on Berardius and 

other Ziphioid whales, 17; on 

Spatulemys Lasale, 73; on the 

Masles ius australiensis, 75; on 

Codiophyllum, 77; on the horns 

of Antilocapra, 80; on the geo- 

1 


474 


graphical distribution, migration, 
and occasional habitats of Whales 
and Dolphins, 104; on the Whales 
and Dolphins of the New-Zealand 
seas, 107; on Tortoises, 143; on 
the Boomdas, 154 ; on a new fresh- 
water Tortoise from Borneo, 156; 
on Orca stenorhyncha, 159; on the 
original form, development, and 
cohesion of the bones of the ster- 
num of Chelonians, 16]; on the 
Guémul of Patagonia, 214, 308 ; 
on two new Sponges, 234; on new 
genera and species of Chelonians, 
289; on the dentition of Rhino- 
ceroses, and on the characters 
afforded by their skulls, 356; on 
the dorsal shield of Tolypeutes, 
397,469; on French measures, 400; 
on Pigs and their skulls, with de- 
scription of a new species, 431; 
on M. Favre’s paper on a new 
classification of Ammonites, 451 ; 
on the habits of Xenurus uni- 
cinctus, 463; on “le Rat de Ma- 
dagascar,”’465; on Mammalia from 
New Granada, 468; on an adult 
skeleton of Tyrse nilotica, 470. 

Gray, Prof. A., on Sequoia and its 
history, 52. 

Gunther, Dr. A., on two new species 
of frogs, 349; on a new Saurian, 
351; on a new snake from Mada- 
gascar, 874; on some extinct tor- 
toises from the islands of Rodriguez 
and Mauritius, 397 ; on the genera 
Ceratophrys and Megalophrys, 417. 

Hackel, Prof. E., on the Calcispongie, 
their position in the animal king- 
dom, and their relation to the 
theory of descendence, 241, 421. 

Hamamelis virginica, on the projec- 
tile power of the capsules of, 160. 

Hector, Dr. J., on the whales and 
dolphins of the New-Zealand seas, 
104. 

Hedyopis, description of the new 
genus, 188. 

Helminthosporium, 
species of, 345. 

Heynemann, D. F., on the French 
species of Geomalacus, 271. 

Houghton, Rev. W., on the Silurus 
and Glanis of the ancient Greeks 
and Romans, 199. 

Hoy, Dr. P. R., on the deep-water 
fauna of Lake Michigan, 319. 


new British 


INDEX. 


Huamela leucotis, observations on, 
213, 214, 308. 

Hyalosaurus, description of the new 
genus, 351. 

Hydractinia, on the transformation 
of an entire shell into chitinous 
structure by the polype, 1; new 
species of, 9. 

Hydraspis, new species of, 304. 

Hydromedusa, new species of, 301. 

Hygrophorus, new species of, 341. 

Hymenoptera, new species of fos- 
sorial, 441. 

Hypera, new species of, 180. 

Infusoria, on a new type of, 96. 

Invertebrata, on the distribution of 
the, in relation to the theory of 
evolution, 391, 

Isthmiade, new species of, 121. 

Ithycyphus, description of the new 

enus, 374. 

Jetireys, J. Gwyn, on the Mollusca 
of Europe compared with those of 
North America, 375, 

Joly, N., on hypermetamorphosis in 
Palingenia virgo, 317. 

Jones, T. R., on the genera Entomis 
and Entomidella, 413. 

Jullien, J., on the respiration of the 
Psammodromi, 469. 

Krefft, Dr. G., on fabulous Australian 
animals, 316. 

Labaria hemispheerica, description of, 
935, 275. 

Lankester, E. R., summary of zoo- 
logical observations made by, at 
Naples in the winter of 1871-72, 
81; on the primitive cell-layers of 
the embryo, and on the origin of 
vascular and lymph systems, 321. 

Leaf-arrangement, on, 386, 

Ligidium agile, on the discovery of, 
in Great Britain, 419. 

Limuli, anatomical investigations on 
the, 152. 

Littorina, new species of, 159. 

Loligo, on the development of, 81. 

Lybeba, description of the new 
genus, 186. 

Lyginodendron, on the organization 
of, 227. 

M‘Andrew, R., obituary notice of, 
471. 

M‘Coy, Prof. F., on a new Australian 
species of Thyrsites, 338; on the 
appearance of Danais -Archippus 
in Australia, 440. 


INDEX. 


Macdonald, Dr. J. D., on the distri- 

- bution of the Invertebrata in rela- 

tion to the theory of evolution, 
391, 

Macleayius australiensis, on the, of 
New Zealand, 75. 

Mammalia from New Granada, notes 
on some, 468. 

Marsh, O. C., on a new and remark- 
able fossil bird, 80; on a new 
subélass of fossil birds, 233. 

Meehan, T., on the projectile power 
of the capsules of Hamamelis vir- 
ginica, 160, 

Megalophrys, on the genus, 419, 

Meriphus, new species of, 195, 

Milne-Edwards, A., on the anatomy 
of the Limuli, 152. 

Mollusca, new species of, 159; of 
Europe and North America, on 
the, 206, 375. 

Monosporium, new species of, 345. 

Moseley, H. N., on the anatomy and 
histology of the Land-Planarians 
of Ceylon, 310. 

Myurella, new species of, 266, 

Nacella, new species of, 159. 

Nemertian, on the structure of the 
proboscis of an hermaphrodite, 398. 

Nettapus, new species of, 15, 

Nicholson, Prof. H. A., on some 
fossils from the Quebec group of 
Point Lévis, Quebec, 133. 

Nitophyllum,on a new British species 
of, 156. 

Norman, Rev. A. M., on the dis- 
covery of Ligidium agile in Great 
Britain, 419. 

Notaden, description of the new 
genus, 349, 

Nudibranchs, on the development of 
the, 86. 

Ocadia, new species of, 300. 

Odontocera, new species of, 37. 

Odontornithes, on the new subclass, 
233. 

Oidium, new British species of, 346, 

Olanza, description of the new genus, 
193. 


Ommata, new species of, 26, 
Orca stenorhyncha, note on, 159, 
Orlitia, new species of, 156. 
Orthorhinus, new species of, 180. 
Otion, new species of, 240. 
Oxylymma, new species of, 23. 
Palingenia virgo, on hypermetamor- 
phosis in, 317. 


475 


Paryzeta, description of the new 
genus, 191. 

Pascoe, F. P., on Australian Curcu- 
lionids, 178. 

Perichzena, new species of, 345. 

Perrier, E., on the anatomy of 
Comatula rosacea, 466. 

Petromyzon, on the development of, 
236. 

Peziza, new British species of, 347. 

ee description of the new genus, 
127. 


Phrenozemia, new species of, 195. 

Phyllirrhoé bucephala and its para- 
site, note on, 94. 

Pigs, observations on the group, 431. 

Planarians, Land, on the anatomy 
ae histology of the, of Ceylon, 
310. 

Plants of the Coal-measures, on the 
organization of the, 227. 

Plateau, F., on the aquatic Arti- 
culata, 70, 

Polyactis, new species of, 346. 

Pompilus, new species of, 441. 

Poropterus, new species of, 197. 

Propheesia, new species of, 180. 

Psaldus, new species of, 179. 

Psammodromi, on the respiration of 
the, 469, 

Psepholax, new species of, 196. 

Psetalia globulosa, description of, 
234. 

Pseudogyps, characters of the new 
genus, 133, 

Putrefaction, on the origin of Bac- 
teria, and on their relation to the 
process of, 383. 

Pyrosoma, on the embryology of, 94. 

Rhinoceroses, on the dentition of, 
356. 

Rhinoclemmys, new species of, 144, 

Rhinonchus, new species of, 199, 

Rhynchodemus, on the anatomy and 
histology of, 310. 

Rhyparobius, new species of, 347. 

Royal Society, proceedings of the, 
227, 310, 388, 454. 

Schneider, A., on the developmental 
history of Petromyzon, 236. 

Science, on the advantage of a do- 
minant language for, 401. 

Sclater, P. L., on Cervus chilensis 
and C. antisiensis, 213. 

Seedlings, on growth or evolution of 
structure in, 45. 

Sequoia and its history, on, 52. 


476 


Setifera, observations on the, and 
their skulls, 431. 

Sharpe, R. B., on the Peregrine 
Falcon from Sardinia, 20; on a 
new species of Turkey Vulture 
from the Falklands, and a new 
genus of Old- World Vultures, 133; 
on the Peregrine Vulture of the 
Magellan Straits, 220. 

Shell, on the transformation of, into 
chitinous structure by the polype 
Hydractinia, 1. 

Silurus and Glanis of the ancient 
Greeks and Romans, on the, 199. 
Sipunculus nudus, on the histology 

of, 88. 

Smith, E.,on some new species of 
Terebridee, 262; on a new species 
of Vitrina, 288. 

Smith, F., on new species of fossorial 
Hymenoptera, 441. 

Spatulemys Lasalze, notes on, 73. 

Spheeria, new British species of, 548, 

Spheeronema, new species of, 345. 

Sphargis, on the osteology of, 171, 
470. 

Sponges, on new species of, 234, 275 ; 
on the position of the, in the ani- 
mal kingdom, 241; on points of 
distinction between the Foramini- 
fera and, 351. 

Stebbing, Rev. T. R. R., on a crus- 
tacean of the genus Zia, 286. 

Stenopseustes, description of the 

new genus, 131. 

Sternaspis, on the anatomy of, 92. 

Sus, new species of, 436. 

Swinhoe, R., on a new species of 
Nettapus, 15. 

Terebella nebulosa, on the develop- 
ment of, 87. 

Terebra, new species of, 264. 

Terebratula vitrea, on the develop- 
ment of, 92. 

Terebridz, on new forms of, 262. 

Tetragrapsus, new species of, 136. 

Thaumops, description of the new 
genus, 390. 

Thyrsites, new species of, 338. 

Tolypeutes, on the dorsal shield of, 
397, 469. 

Tomopterus, new species of, 128. 

Tortoises, notes on, 143; new genera 


INDEX. 


and species of, 156, 289; on the 
original form, development, and 
cohesion of the bones of the ster- 
num of, 161; on some extinct, 
from the islands of Rodriguez and 
Mauritius, 397. 

Trachemys, new species of, 147. 

Triglopsis, new species of, 820, 

Turnbull, Dr. C. 8., on a mite in the 
ear of the Ox, 79. 

Tursiops, new species of, 316. 

Tyrse nilotica, on an adult skeleton 
of, 470. 

Verrill, Prof. A. E., on the Mollusca 
of Europe compared with those of 
Eastern North America, 206. 

Verticillium, new species of, 346. 

Vibriones, on the heat necessary to 
kill, 454. 

Vitrina, new species of, 288. 

Voluta, new species of, 159. 

Westwood, Prof. J. O., on the Bell 
Collection of Reptiles, 78. 

Whales, on Berardius and other 
Ziphioid, 17 ; on the geographical 
distribution, migration, and occa- 
sional habitats of, 98 ; of the New- 
Zealand seas, on the, 104; new 
species of Crustacea parasitic on, 
157, 238; of the Indian Ocean, 
notes on the, 231; new species of, 
from California, 516. 

Whiteaves, J. F., on deep-sea dredg- 
ing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
155. 

Willemées-Suhm, Dr. R. von, on a 
new genus of Amphipod Crusta- 
ceans, 389, 

Williamson, Prof. W. C., on the 
organization of the fossil plants of 
the coal-measures, 227, 

Xeda, description of the genus, 192. 

Xenocrasis, description of the new 
genus, 131. 

Xenurus unicinctus, on the habits of, 
463. 

Zeller, E., on the structure of the 

roboscis of an hermaphrodite 
emertian, 398. 

Zia, on a crustacean of the genus, 
286, 419. 

Zonites algirus, on the capreolus of, 
235. 


END: OF THE ELEVENTH VOLUME. 


PRINTED BY- TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, 
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET, 


In the Press. 


THESAURUS ENTOMOLOGICUS OXONTENSIS ; 


7 OR, 


ILLUSTRATIONS OF NEW, RARE, AND INTERESTING INSECTS, 


For the most part contained in the Collection presented to the University of Oxford 
by the Rev. FrepERICK Wititam Hopg, M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., &c. 


By J, 05 WES) WOOD, M. A. FL.Ss- &e. 
Hope Professor of Zoology in the University of Oxford. 


One volume small folio, with forty plates (mostly coloured), and 
descriptive letterpress. 


THE donation made to the University of Oxford by the late Rey. 
F. W. Hops, of his entire collections and library of Natural History, and 
the subsequent acquisition of the Burchell, Wells, and other collections, 
including also my own, have enriched the University Museum with a 
large number of new and rare species of Insects, from which it has been 
considered advisable that a selection should be made for illustration in a 
manner worthy both of the donor and the University. 

In making this selection I have considered that it would be most 
beneficial to illustrate certain groups or families rather than isolated 
species. 

With this view the Groups of Goliathide and Cremastocheilide 
have been selected ; a complete monograph of the latter being given, with 
figures of upwards of one hundred species. Of the singular family 
Pausside upwards of fifty species will be figured for the first time, 
together with many other curious Coleoptera. Many remarkable groups 
and species belonging to the Orders Hymenoptera, Orthoptera, 
Neuroptera, Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera, as well as several singular 
apterous groups, will also be given. 

The Plates will be engraved and coloured in the best style of Art, from 
drawings and dissections prepared by myself. 


OxFoRD, January 1, 1873. J. O. WESTWOOD. 


It is proposed to publish the work, in the first instance, by subscription 
in four Parts, each containing ten Plates and corresponding letterpress ; 
the price of each Part to subscribers being 1/7. 5s. The first part will, 
it is expected, be ready for delivery on July 1, 1873, and the others at 
mes of three months. 

Subscribers’ names will be received by Messrs. Macmillan and Co., 
Publishers to the University of Oxford, 29 and 30 Bedford Street, 
Covent Garden, London, to whom also all subscriptions are to be paid. 

The work when complete will be published at 7/. ros. 


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